Jeff Howe Confident Patriots Re-Sign Darrelle Revis
BOSTON (CBS) - Will he or won't he be back? That is the question.
We're talking, of course, about Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis as NFL free agency is about to get underway in the next week or so.
New England technically still controls his rights for 2015, but no reputable reporter believes the Patriots will bring back Revis at the $25 million cap hit for next season.
Speaking of reputable reporters, 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand had on Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald Wednesday afternoon to get the latest on the Revis situation.
"[Revis] has already discussed winning back-to-back Super Bowls with this team. He wants to win. He's already turned down millions of dollars to sign with the Patriots once," said Howe. "I don't believe he's after the biggest contract that he can find. I think he just wants to be paid a reasonable amount of money by the Patriots."
That's good news of course if you're a Patriots fan, hearing that Revis would take something less to sign back here, and the idea of another Super Bowl intrigues him, because as we know the organization is as hardline as they come in the negotiation room.
Howe indicated to Zolak & Bertrand that Revis is New England's no. 1 offseason priority, another positive sign for his return.
"The Patriots have spent the better part of this offseason, really since the Combine, working to try to make sure they can get Revis done before their other guys. That's why they haven't committed any big money elsewhere. They've got some medium-to-high priced sort of names in free agency, and they've put off the brunt of those talks in order to concentrate on Revis. I think both sides are very serious and want to get this thing done."
Howe has been pretty tapped in on this from the start, and while he's not yet privy to the dollars and cents being talked about, or the tenor of the negotiations, the Herald reporter believes $12 million per year "could probably get it done."
"If he goes to the open market and listens to the other 31 teams that are undoubtedly going to call him, I'm sure he can get a minimum of $16 to $17 million per year, especially with the cap hit going up. He can get a team like the Jaguars, who have like a billion dollars in cap space, to give him $22 million a year, but that doesn't do him any good."
The idea of winning another Super Bowl (something the Jaguars and most other teams cannot offer him), is another appealing aspect to staying in New England.
"The Patriots are not going to pay him what he is bound to get from one of those free-spending teams. But then again, this guy wants to win. He wants to be a Super Bowl champion multiple times. I really do believe that he saw Richard Sherman's spotlight blow up when he won the Super Bowl last year, and realized that was a great way to be known as the best cornerback in the game.
"At the end of the day he's made a ton of money, and I really truly believe because he turned down $4 million [guaranteed] from at least two teams last year to sign with the Patriots, he wants to do it again. He is extremely intrigued about going back-to-back."
Listen below to the full interview, including the latest on Devin McCourty, potential restructurings and other offseason items:
