Breer: Biggest Question With Revis Isn't If He Still Has It; It's 'Does He Still Want It?'
BOSTON (CBS) -- It appears that if Darrelle Revis wants to keep playing football, he'll likely be doing it as a New England Patriot.
Several NFL executives are "convinced" that Revis will return to the Patriots in 2017, according to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, but The MMQB's Albert Breer isn't sold just yet. While the move makes sense on paper, Breer looks towards New England's depth chart at corner and says the reunion isn't as much of a slam dunk as it's being made out to be.
"I don't know if the Patriots are going to do it because I look at the landscape here and, right now, they still have Malcolm Butler on the roster. That circumstance could change. They have a young player in Cyrus Jones, who they drafted highly. I know he didn't play well last year, but I don't think many people thought two years ago that Logan Ryan would become the player he became, so there is still time to develop there," noted Breer.
Breer also points to a deep group of corners in next month's NFL Draft as a reason the Patriots may pass on Revis, or at least wait until later in the offseason.
"There legitimately are 8-10 guys at that position who could start right away in the NFL," he said of the corners in the 2017 draft class. "It was interesting that Bill Belichick was at Ohio State yesterday, they have two potential first-round corners."
Breer also says there are questions about Revis' desire to play the game after two lackluster seasons with the New York Jets.
"I think the big question every team has to ask is 'does he want it?' It's sort of the same as Charles Woodson 10 years ago. At the end of his first stint in Oakland, he was seen as a malcontent and a bad teammate, maybe somebody who fell out of love with football. Woodson took all of that personally. He went and reinvented himself as a corner and still had a few good years left as a corner in Green Bay, and then reinvented himself again as a safety. He wrapped up his career in Oakland and ended up playing another 10 years," Breer noted. "The question with Revis isn't can he do it, because I think he can still be a good corner for a good amount of time. He's only 32. The biggest question is, does he want it bad enough to make it happen? That's the question what most teams looking at him will be looking to find the answer to."
Breer also touched on several rule changes the NFL is considering, and discussed the Raiders potential move to Las Vegas:
