The prevailing view inside and outside the Jets organization is that owner Woody Johnson has no desire to pay cornerback Darrelle Revis the kind of money he’d fetch on the open market. With the Jets having no way to keep Revis from hitting the open market next year, the question becomes whether the team should part ways with him sooner and get value in return.
But there’s a belief within the power structure that Johnson should broaden the lens and look at the entire budget for the cornerback position. Instead of paying Revis close to market value and continuing to pay cornerback Antonio Cromartie a healthy salary ($7 million base pay in 2013), the Jets could pay Revis what he’s worth and trade Cromartie.
Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com reports that a “small segment” of the organization prefers that approach, trading Cromartie instead of Revis. Actually, we’re told that the small segment includes a previously large man named Rex Ryan.
Per Cimini, Cromartie is due to receive a $2.3 million roster bonus on the third day of the league year, in mid-March. Cimini explains that the Jets would carry only $2.5 million in dead money by trading Cromartie, and that they would avoid the $8.2 million cap charge associated with keeping him. (Actually, with a $7 million base salary and a $2.3 million roster bonus, the cap charge would be at least $9.3 million, plus any proration for past signing bonuses.) Revis will cost $9 million against the cap if he stays -- and $12 million against the cap if he is traded before June 1.
As we hear it, the primary factor for Ryan is that he’s hoping to clear out some of the guys who have contributed to the problems in the locker room over the past couple of years. Cromartie is regarded as one of those guys.
Which, of course, may not make it any easier to trade him.