New England Patriots Eyeing Potential Trade For Darrelle Revis

It seems that every year the New England Patriots are a favorite to win the AFC Conference Title and go on to the Super Bowl. This is all thanks to people such as Tom Brady and Bill Belichick who have been to five Super Bowls together, winning three of them. You can never count out the Pats, because they won’t go down easily.

As we know the Denver Broncos managed to get past the Pats to take the AFC spot in the big game, while the Seattle Seahawks won the NFC and eventually the Super Bowl itself. The reason most feel that the Patriots could not win the Super Bowl or even get back to the game for a while is because of the defense. Bill Belichick has proven to be a genius with defenses. So even without the talent he needed, he got things done.

Interestingly enough, the Patriots had multiple issues last year and it was not as much on the defense as it was the offense. Obviously Aaron Hernandez, a good tight end for the team, was arrested and currently on trial for murder. Then the other tight end Rob Gronkowski had been hurt for a while. This meant that Brady had to rely on a lot of young wide-outs and rookies. It’s not as if this is new for New England.

For most of his career, Brady has not had a lot of pro-bowl talent at wide-receiver, when he did he managed to put up record numbers. Arguably due to how much he had to work, Brady could have been named MVP and few would have batted an eye at it despite Peyton Manning’s impressive record breaking statistics. While the offense stayed going due to Gronk coming back and Brady working magic, the defense did have some issues.

The defense has improved well, as younger talent and at times little talent clouded a one top tier defense full of pro-bowl talent. It seemed though, that when Cornerback Aqib Talib was signed something sparked the defense every time he was present. He more than played well, in fact, he might have been the heart and soul of the Patriot D.

There is an issue however, while Talib played well, he is set to sign a new deal as his contract expired. We already know that Brandon Spikes didn’t come to terms, so it doesn’t seem like the Patriots are playing games with contracts. This is why there is big speculation that New England will go after the man who is considered the best cornerback in the game, Darrelle Revis.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, home media for the Patriots, had a good take on the potential scenario of a Revis trade and cut of Talib.

One main issue when it comes to Revis is that if traded New England would be stuck with his enormous contract that makes him one of the highest paid defense players in the NFL. Volin figured out a scenario to make it work, saying:

Revis is set to make $16 million per year — $13 million in base salary, plus a $1.5 million roster bonus due each March and a $1.5 million workout bonus for showing up each offseason. At that structure, Revis’s $16 million salary cap number would be the largest on the Patriots – higher than Tom Brady’s $14.8 million. But that contract comes with a big asterisk, as discovered by the Tampa Tribune.

Per the contract, the team can convert Revis’s $13 million salary into a guaranteed bonus at any time. Revis actually would prefer this to happen — instead of waiting for the fall to receive his salary in 17 installments, he’d receive most of it up front in a big, fat check. Converting salary money to bonus money allows a team to spread that cap money over the life of the contract, as the Cardinals did with Larry Fitzgerald last month.

So, for example, in 2014 the Patriots could decide to turn $10 million of Revis’s $13 million into bonus money, which would be spread over the final five years of his deal at $2 million per season. That would put Revis’s 2014 salary cap number at $8 million — $3 million in base salary, $2 million bonus proration, $1.5 million roster bonus and $1.5 million workout bonus — which the Patriots easily could handle.

The Patriots currently sit with $12.7 million in cap space for 2014, and can create an extra $9.2 million by cutting Dan Connolly, Isaac Sopoaga, Tommy Kelly, Adrian Wilson, and Jake Bequette. They can create even more space by giving contract extensions to Vince Wilfork, Devin McCourty, and Stephen Gostkowski.

So basically, the contract for Revis would not be a problem AND money could be saved by getting him and not re-signing Talib. There is some doubt with Revis, as he was out for a while with an ACL injury after surgery in 2012. However, he played his first full season last year since the surgery and only allowed 400 passing yards on him.

This is highly impressive, especially for a guy who is coming from an ACL injury. The Patriots love to shake things up around draft time. They are known for throwing out draft picks, trading up and down, and even getting random players that end up being great for them. So I would not be surprised that they are contemplating something like this for Revis that would give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a good incentive to trade.

What they are willing to trade is up in the air, but the New England Patriots are smart in what they do with trades. They try to get more out than they give, even if it doesn’t seem like they are. We will have to see if Revis is traded. If he is not there is a big chance Talib is re-signed and by that point, a trade may never occur between the Bucs and Pats for him. Many would hope to get Revis and keep Talib, but there cannot be a perfect world in the NFL financial rules.