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In my opinion, Darrelle Revis made a mistake firing his long-time agents Neil Schwartz and Jon Feinsod, and let me explain why . . .
I think this decision is really going to come back to bite him.
And this has nothing to do with money. He’s in the middle of a great contract which could be his last.
Schwartz and Feinsod have done an amazing job of making Revis one of the richest players in all of football.
That can’t be denied. He’s made $101 million in his career.
The New York Post had a headline today – “Darrelle Revis fires agents who make him $100 million.”
Some fans took umbrage with this premise.
“I could be wrong but Revis being one of the NFL’s best corners earned that money,” tweeted one fan.
“Who made the money?” tweeted another fan.
I understand where these fans are coming from. Of course you can make the argument that ultimately it’s the player that earns the contract.
But in this case, that would be selling the agents short.
These two agents have engaged in guerilla-warfare against the Jets on three different occasions, and created PR firestorms that helped the player get more money. There is no denying this.
And scorched earth campaigns from past clearly contributed to the Jets overpaying Revis at the start of free-agency last year.
They were essentially negotiating against the themselves. From what I hear, the Patriots were pretending to be interested to drive up what the Jets would pay. No other teams were serious bidders for Revis, and the Jets gave him $39 million guaranteed, including a $17 million this year.
As a very astute long-time Jets observer put it, “signing Revis was a mea culpa to the fans.”
And that awful contract the Jets gave Revis during “Hard Knocks,” which came back to bit them because the salaries dipped after the first couple of years (terrible idea), was certainly influenced by the bad PR the agents created in the media. It was a three-ring circus that summer on the Revis contract front.
So yes, I agree with the Post, the agents did help him get [$101 million].
No question Revis would have been paid handsomely over the years without Schwartz/Feinsod, but I don’t think as much. These guys are masters at negotiating through the media.
That brings me to my point on why Revis made a big mistake firing them.
Revis had a sub-par season last year, no matter how much some people spin it.
And why do you think some people didn’t take the gloves off and trash Revis in the press after some of his bad games?
You do the math.
Schwartz and Feinsod are great sources for reporters. I mean great!
And honestly, if you wanted to stay on their gravy train, if didn’t behoove you to rip their top client.
That is why you kept reading things like, “he only had two bad games” and he’s still “excellent.”
I’m not saying some didn’t criticize Revis at times, but it could have been a lot worse. You know how this market can be.
And I’m not sure Revis understands what great buffers these guys were.
Well he’s going to find out now.
Prediction – some of the writers who kept the gloves on last year, well take them off this year if he struggles.
It’s Schwartz and Feinsod who were buttering their bread, not Revis.
From a PR standpoint, I think Revis made a big mistake.
May 19, 2016
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