Marc Malusis: Why the Jets must cut ties with Darrelle Revis

This is not going to end well with the Jets for cornerback Darrelle Revis. A lot went sideways for the Jets organization in 2016 and this past year, which concluded against the Bills on Sunday at home, I don’t think anyone ever could have envisioned Revis having this kind of significant drop-off at the age of 31.

Revis made his return to the Jets before the 2015 season when he signed a five-year $70 milllion dollar contract. Next season, he is only guaranteed $6 million of the $13 million dollars that he is owed. Will he be back with the Jets? I doubt it because Revis would have to play ball with the Jets and take a significant pay cut and in all likelihood play safety, an unfamiliar position.

In an interview with Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post, Revis discussed his future. “Would I love to be here? Yes. Will I be back? That’s a great question. My thing would be this: Do the New York Jets want to treat my situation with class or no class? With me being one of the best players in the history of this franchise, do they want me to retire here or not retire here? That’s the biggest question. It’s black and white. It’s not very complicated.”

When asked on Friday about wanting to continue to play football, Revis answered that it was his job and that he is under contract, so therefore he is still going to play.

In October, Revis did connect his early season struggles to being overweight and still dealing with a wrist injury. So, let me get this straight, a professional athlete is heavy and the Jets are paying him to be a shutdown corner. Listen, I can understand not going to the gym, but you do control each and everything that you eat. There should not be any excuse to being too heavy. That is just simply about diet and eating clean.

In November, Revis linked his struggles this season to his age. He told the New York Daily News that he was “old.”

Some have been critical of his effort on the field this season and Revis has certainly loaded up on the excuses as to why his play has not reached the level that we are accustom to watching.

The general issue that manyhave with Revis is that he wants to be treated differently because of his accomplishments in the past. He wants to continue to be paid and treated for the player that he was in the past and not the one who has struggled in 2016. It is very hypocritical to hear this from Revis when he has played the leverage game perfectly in his career in order to maximize his value. I don’t think there is a player that has maximized his value better thanRevis has. I don’t blame him for doing that and I never fault a player for trying to make the most money they can. Now, with that being said, Revis has to understand when the Jets take the emotion out of this decision and treat him like the player he is now. Revis is a Hall of Fame player on the decline and he will be treated as such. The NFL is a results-oriented business. For Revis, the return on the investment is no longer worth the investment itself.

For the Jets, the only decision they are left with is to say so long to Revis for a second and final time this offseason. He is now part of the problem and not the solution and that is why this decision should be the only decision when it comes to Darrelle Revis.