Two offseasons ago, the New England Patriots made one of the most controversial personnel decisions of Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach/de-facto general manager. Coming off the team’s Super Bowl XLIX victory, the team opted not to pick up the contract option of All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.
After the Patriots let Revis hit the open free agency market, he signed a 5-year, $70 million contract (including $39.0 million in guarantees) with the New York Jets. Yesterday, New England’s AFC East rival announced that it will release the veteran cornerback after arguably the worst season of his 10-year career.
The move will clear around $7.0 million in additional salary cap space for the Jets and leave the team in need to fill almost 90% of defensive snaps. From the Patriots’ perspective the release also is the final chapter in the Revis-saga – one that once again shows that New England made the right move in 2015.
While the 31-year old had a solid 2015 season, he failed to live up to his hefty price tag; a possibility the Patriots certainly were aware of. The Jets and their owner Woody Johnson, on the other hand, apparently were not and once again came up on the short end of the stick. On the other end of that stick, as they have been for most of the 21st century: the Patriots.