Another point of contention for Revis was the guaranteed money. His existing deal was to pay him $21 million guaranteed over the next three seasons. His new deal will pay him $32 million.

It is hard to understand why Revis had to hold out for over a month just to increase his guaranteed money only $11 million yet that is exactly how this unfolded. Such is the nature of contract negotiations. Neither side wants to give in until they lose leverage.

The Jets were clearly the initiator in this agreement. With the regular season just around the corner and so much invested in this year – the new stadium, the “Super Bowl or Bust” proclamations and all the high-profile free agents – they knew they needed their best player on the field to start the season.

They have a tough opening schedule. With three of their first five games against playoff teams and three of their first four against division opponents, they have to get off to a good start. And with their secondary looking shaky in the preseason, the Jets’ brain trust knew it had to pull out all the stops to get a deal done.

Kudos to Tannenbaum and his team for being creative in getting the key players together on Sunday. Rex Ryan and Woody Johnson flew down to Florida on Sunday to meet with Team Revis AND his mother Diana Gilbert and uncle Sean Gilbert.

Bringing his family into the mix apparently helped get this deal done. Revis clearly values the advice of his uncle who played 11 seasons in the NFL and held out himself in 1997 while playing for the Redskins.

But having his mother there might have been the key in this negotiation. Revis is very close with her and she has been a guiding force in his life. All it took was bringing in people close to him to add an element of realism to this situation.

Too many conference calls and too many meetings between agents and front office personnel merely create a stand off. Both sides wanted to come away victorious and to look good in the media. Who knew all it would take was his mom to get a deal done?

I believe in the coming days it will come out that Tannenbaum was the driving force in getting the family involved. He is one of the more creative GM’s in the league and this strategy has his fingerprints all over it.

This is a huge win for the Jets. They get their best player back a week before the season opener. They do not have to sign him to an exorbitant deal of over $100 million, as had been rumored earlier, and they do not have to commit a lot of guaranteed money to get him signed.

Usually the side that blinks first loses their shirt but in this one, the Jets came away with a very respectable agreement. They also stayed true to their commitment for this season.

This organization is on a mission to win a Super Bowl and by signing Revis, it appears to have the last piece of the puzzle in place.


Written by Alan Levin