ISLAND HOPPING: If owner Woody Johnson is to be believed, the last time anyone will see Darrelle Revis in a Jets uniform is when he left the field after injuring his knee in a game in Miami last Sept. 23. (
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PHOENIX — As if there were any doubt, the Jets’ braintrust made it clear yesterday the phone lines are open when it comes to Darrelle Revis.
Speaking to the media after arriving at the annual NFL meetings, owner Woody Johnson said the Jets are open to trading any player on their roster — including Revis.
“This is a chessboard, and you have to move the pieces around,” Johnson said the day after the Jets paid their All-Pro cornerback a $1 million bonus. “We’re always trying to get better, and if anyone wants to make an offer on any one of our players, we’ll always listen.”
Neither Johnson nor new general manager John Idzik would specifically address reports the Buccaneers are preparing to make an offer for Revis, but Johnson made it sound as if his best player’s days as a Jet could be numbered.
“He’s on the team right now, and that’s the way we’re approaching it,” Johnson said.
Johnson left open the possibility his cap-strapped franchise would attempt to sign Revis to a long-term extension before losing him for essentially nothing in free agency next winter, but Gang Green’s owner wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about what is considered by many a remote possibility.
“The lines of communication [with Revis] are open,” Johnson said. “If [Idzik] believes an extension would be acceptable to the team and make the team better, then we would do it.”
Asked if the reports are true Revis is being shopped because Johnson is tired of the constant contract drama with his star player, Johnson brushed it off.
“I’ll never be tired of a great player,” he said.
Idzik was much more circumspect about Revis’ future with the Jets.
“I think I’m going to let that play out,” Idzik said when asked if Revis would still be a member of the team this season. “It’s a little premature. We haven’t even finished the first phase of free agency, much less get players in the building and get them working out and eventually on the field.”
Idzik said the Jets are more concerned with the state of Revis’ rehabilitation from surgery on his knee that caused him to miss most of last season.
According to Idzik, Revis is making terrific progress, but might be pushing it a little too aggressively.
“To a certain extent, you have to throttle it a little bit and be smart,” Idzik said. “We have time. Just be wise with that time.”
While the Revis trade talk dominated the Jets’ media session, both Johnson and Idzik tried to calm fan anxiety in the wake of the team’s recent flood of free-agent losses — especially on defense.
The Jets’ basic message yesterday: Keep calm and carry on.
“Twenty to 25 percent of a team changes every year,” Johnson said. “We’re not making these changes to get worse. We won six games last year. I’m upset, and I know what the fans are thinking.
“When the fans get to see what we’ve put together, people are going to be very happy,” Johnson added. “I think you’ll see a new culture coming through. At the end of the day, we’ll put a winning team on the field.”