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As you all know by now, Brandon Marshall and Darrelle Revis had an imbroglio in today’s practice. Here is my take on it . . .
They were going at each other, taking swings, yelling insults. It was ugly.
One of the insults might be hard to ever overcome.
Marshall made light of Revis’ performance last year against Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins beat Revis for 118 yards on five catches with two touchdowns.
I’m sorry, you don’t say that to a teammate.
You might say that to an opponent lined up over you in game, but not to a teammate.
Revis performance in that game was bad for the Jets. But it’s in the past now. You don’t open old wounds like that with teammates trying to focus on 2016. That’s low-brow, an counterproductive to the team concept.
Marshall lost his temper and blew a gasket, but I also think he has underlying issues with Revis.
I think Marshall resents Revis’ contract.
That is the elephant in the room.
You could make a strong argument Marshall is the best player on the Jets. It certainly seemed that way last season. Marshall or Mo Wilkerson.
Marshall makes $9.5 million this year, and Revis makes $17 million.
Marshall was great last year and Revis was pedestrian.
You do the math
Honestly, if you shot Ryan Fitzpatrick with truth serum, he would probably admit he resents the Revis’ contract as well.
Revis is making more in guaranteed money this year ($17) than Fitzpatrick was offered in the entire three-year offer ($15 million) that he rejected.
You could make a strong argument Fitzpatrick had a better year than Revis did in terms of overall contribution to the 10-6 record.
And if you want out to point out Fitz’s poor game at Buffalo, that is a moot point in this argument, because Revis was just as bad in Ralph Wilson Stadium.
And you want to know something, Marshall can talk all he wants how much he likes Revis, but actions speak louder than words.
He said some really nasty things to Revis today, including the Hopkins’ comment.
And I don’t know if their relationship will ever truly recover from Marshall playing the “Hopkin’s card.”
But I don’t think the relationship was ever as great as Marshall said it is. I think that was spin.
In my opinion, when you lose your temper, your true feelings come out. And Marshall’s true feeling came pouring out when he lost his composure.
Be careful what you wish for in life.
Revis wanted this kind of money ($39 million guaranteed over three year), so now he’s got to back it up on the field.
And I’m not sure he can.
Can he still be a solid cornerback? No doubt, but not a star. He doesn’t have the short area quickness or the long speed. He just doesn’t.
It’s not his fault. It happens.
And as I’ve said before, Mike Maccagnan is a really smart man, and he knows darn well you don’t pay 30-year-old cornerbacks that kind of money.
It’s just bad football business. And this idea that he was forced to do it. That is bull. He just signed to be the GM. He just got a long-term deal. If had put his foot down and said, “Woody, Neil, we can’t do this. Maybe pay him $7-8 million a year, but not $13 million,” what would they have done, fired him after they just hired him? He had the juice at the time. He should have said, “Hell no.”
I keep hearing they did it PR reasons. You don’t make personnel moves for PR reasons. That is a recipe for disaster.
When the New England Patriots dole out contracts, they think about how it’s going to play in the locker room.
I’ve said it before, I will say it again, the Revis contract is way over-the-top, and it’s probably not playing well in the locker room.
You don’t pay 31-year-old cornerbacks $17 million. That is reckless.
And too me, that is part of the problem here.
August 5, 2016
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