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New Jersey – There were two stories of note today on the Darrelle Revis front.
Rick Stroud, of the Tampa Bay Times, who has been covering the Bucs forever, seemed to really advance the ball with his article today. Stroud is very plugged in down there.
“Any trade of Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay must include no less than the Bucs’ first-round pick in the NFL draft April 25, the team’s front office has been informed,” Stroud wrote.
That sentence write there is powerful, and paints a clearer picture than anything I’ve seen written on this story so far.
Stroud is saying that the Bucs have been informed by the Jets that the 13th pick has to be in the deal.
And Stroud is hearing that the Bucs aren’t sure they want to go there yet.
“The Bucs remain greatly focused on acquiring one of the league’s premier defensive players,” Stroud wrote. “In fact, the only thing holding up the trade for Revis is that general manager Mark Dominik still is weighing whether to part with the 13th overall selection in 2013. While that choice is in play, he’s unsure what additional compensation the Jets may require for Revis.”
Once again, powerful information coming from a writer who is far from a hack – he’s a long-time NFL writer with a terrific reputation. And notice how he writes this, with no hesitation, no caveats – it’s straight forward – “In fact, the only thing holding up the trade for Revis is that general manager Mark Dominik still is weighing whether to part with the 13th overall selection in 2013.”
That paints a pretty clear picture.
The other story getting a lot of attention is from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
“It widely has been believed that the lingering impasse between the Jets and the Buccaneers over cornerback Darrelle Revis arises from the Tampa’s refusal to give up a 2013 first-round pick for Revis,” wrote Florio.
“There’s a problem with that widespread belief. It’s not correct.
“Multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell PFT that the Buccaneers are willing to send the 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft to the Jets for Revis.”
Talk about divergent information – Stroud writes, with great conviction that the Bucs GM, Mark Dominik, “still is weighing whether to part with the 13th overall selection in 2013.”
And Florio writes, “multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell PFT that the Buccaneers are willing to send the 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft to the Jets for Revis.”
What’s my gut here?
I have to side with Stroud here. The man is all Bucs, all the time, and has been covering that team for quite some time.
Florio is a national guy, dealing with all 32 teams.
And I have to say I’m a little uncomfortable with Florio claiming to have “multiple sources” on his information. It’s sounds like he’s piling on a little there.
I have been doing this a long time, and can tell you, it’s hard enough finding one source, so when a guy claims he has “multiple sources,” it makes me wonder.
Especially since the Jets aren’t talking – they are in lock down mode. I can assure you that one of the “multiple sources” wasn’t out of One Jets Drive in Florham Park.
From what I hear, Florio has a strong relationship with agent Neil Schwartz, so you would have to consider him one of the sources (or maybe the only one).
I think this deal eventually gets done, and the Jets land the 2013 #1 one.
I think Dominick’s bosses, the Glazer family (Malcolm’s children who now run the team following his unfortunate stroke), will blink, and tell the GM – get the deal done.
But I have to side with Stroud at this point, that Dominick is really hemming and hawing about relinquishing the 13th pick this year, because he figures his team will be very good in 2013, and next year’s number one, which he seems more inclined to trade, will be further down in the first round.
April 8, 2013
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