Despite threatening a training-camp holdout because he's unhappy with his current contract, New York Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis claimed Wednesday he still wants to retire a Jet -- if they want him, he added.
"That's always been my goal," Revis said during an Internet chat with fans on the NFL Players' Association website. "When they drafted me, I told them this is one of the biggest things they did, and I won't let them down. From the business side, they make the choices. They know my heart is with the Jets and Jersey and New York City. I'm here as long as I can be. If they give me the ability to have a choice, I'll stay here as a Jet."
Revis didn't address the issue of whether he will report to training camp Aug. 1 in Cortland, N.Y. The two sides are embroiled in a contract dispute that has no end in sight.
Revis, claiming he was promised a new deal by the Jets, wants to be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, topping the Oakland Raiders' Nnamdi Asomugha ($16 million per year). Revis is due to make $1 million in 2010, with a total of $20 million in 2011 and 2012 -- assuming the Jets execute a simple, two-year buy back option.
The Jets have said they'd like to give Revis an extension as long as it's "within reason," and they're believed to be offering him in the $11 million-to-$13 million-a-year range. The problem, according to Revis, is that the offer contains no fully-guaranteed money.
The Jets are somewhat restricted by the reallocation rule, which states that an extension in an uncapped year can include future guarantees against skill and injury only to the amount of leftover cap room in 2009. For the Jets, it's not much -- roughly $300,000. Therefore, Revis would have to accept a guarantee against skill or injury, but not both.
However, the Jets can avoid that restriction simply by giving Revis a huge signing bonus, which is possible this year because there's no cap. But the Jets don't want to do that, according to league sources. As a result, Rex Ryan could be without his best defensive player when camp opens.
Ah, but there's another hitch: If Revis doesn't show, he will jeopardize a future guarantee. According to a clause in his contract, the $20 million for '11 and '12 goes from guaranteed to non-guaranteed if he's a no-show.
Revis, who has been training at a performance center in Arizona, claimed his contract mess won't distract him from performing on the field.
"My contract situation is different from me being the best," he said. "I believe that I'm the best. The only thing that I can control is how hard I work in the offseason. I'm a laid-back guy. I try and stay positive and make sure things in my life go that way."
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