The referendum on John Idzik won’t be whether he comes across more as Art Howe than Terry Collins at his introductory press conference and leaves you wondering whether he will be Rex Ryan’s puppet general manager. It will be whether he can expedite the rebuilding process and get fair value for Darrelle Revis and hit home runs with the draft choices he can procure for him.
In a perfect world, Revis would be a Jet For Life.
We were reminded again yesterday that the Jets do not live in a perfect world.
They introduced Idzik, who deserves a chance to prove he is more substance than style, amidst swirling speculation owner Woody Johnson would have an interest in exploring the trade market for his best player.
And he should.
And Revis should welcome one.
And it sounds as if he already might.
“I’m speechless by far but more importantly I feel more upset for the jet nation for having to go through this!!!” Revis tweeted.
The green-and-white tea leaves tell me Johnson does not want to give Revis the monster contract he deserves, and it sounds as if Revis might soon recognize that greener pastures are more likely for him elsewhere.
It may sound like blasphemy, the idea of parting with the best Jet since Curtis Martin, and maybe Joe Namath, but this isn’t a football decision as much as it is a common cents decision.
Idzik is about to tiptoe through salary cap hell, with holes all over the roster, most critically at quarterback, where Mark Sanchez will have to fight for his job for the first time.
Once Revis shows himself fully recovered from his torn ACL, Trader John should make deal as long as it would bring a handsome bounty.
Somebody (the Bills) paid Mario Williams (six years, $96 million that is actually a two-year, $40 million deal with a team option).
Somebody will pay a healthy Revis.
It became obvious yesterday Revis, who will turn 28 in July, is no longer viewed by the owner, for sure, as the young Derek Jeter. Even if he is about the only Jet who Plays Like A Jet, whatever that is supposed to mean.
Johnson, asked if he could say definitively Revis would be a Jet: “You can’t say anything definitive about anybody really until we make sure we go through our roster and do what John talked about, we’ve got to evaluate it and look at it both now and medium and longer term.”
Ryan, who might have gotten a tattoo of his wife wearing a Revis jersey only a year ago, on whether he would lobby to not trade No. 24: “I’m not gonna get into any of those specifics right now. Let’s let the process run its course.”
Idzik: “I think it’s way premature to say anything specific. I think it would be presumptuous to say anything about that right now.”
Idzik can look back to the 2000 NFL Draft as his model. Bill Parcells, fearing a contract holdout by Keyshawn Johnson, traded him to the Buccaneers for a pair of first-round draft picks. The Jets refused to renegotiate Johnson’s deal, which had two years remaining at $2.4 million a year. Johnson ended up with a six-year, $52 million extension from the Bucs and a Super Bowl ring with Jon Gruden. The Al Groh Jets landed the 13th and 27th picks, which they used on outside linebacker John Abraham and tight end Anthony Becht.
The draft has become more of an afterthought in recent years around the Jets. Not anymore.
“That’ll be a lifeline for us year in and year out,” Idzik said. “To us, every draft choice that we turn in is going to be precious to us.”
Johnson: “That’s the way you build your team — long-term.”
Revis reported reluctantly to training camp last summer even though he felt Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum had promised to remove what he called a “Band-Aid” remedy on his four-year, $46 million contract that paid him $32.5 million over the first two years. He is due to make $6 million next season, after which he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
This is a quarterback-driven league, not a cornerback-driven league, and the Jets, in case you haven’t noticed, don’t have a franchise quarterback.
The Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl with Revis, and they can sure fail to win one without him.
Idzik can ask his old Dartmouth quarterback Dave Howard of the Mets how he felt watching Jose Reyes walk out the door and into the free-agent waters with nothing walking back in return.
If Ryan has another Buttfumble season, and if Idzik shows himself to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing and fires him with the owner’s consent, you can bet Revis will look to escape the circus, especially if Johnson decides not to show him the money. Of course, a rebuilding project could also buy Ryan more than this next season.
Johnson, asked about the report he would be willing to explore a Revis trade, said: “I don’t know where it came from. I would never say anything about a contract or a trade or anything like that. That’s not what I normally do.”
But where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And Woody’s Jets are burning.