Examining the Revis contract: a rare win/win for team and player

Photo courtesy of the New York Daily Post

Details emerged today about Darrelle Revis' contract with the Patriots. Frankly, they sound too good to be true.

It turns out that the Revis contract, initially reported as $12 million for one year, actually contains a team option for a second year in 2015 at $20 million. Revis gets a signing bonus of $10 million and $33,333.33 for each of the first 15 games he's active this year (a total of $500k if he plays that amount). His base salary this year is merely $1.5 million, but jumps up to $7.5 million in next years option.

As a result, Revis will get $5 million (half of his signing bonus) in 2014, plus $1.5 million in base salary and up to $500,000 in per game bonuses. This will give him a shockingly low cap number between $6.5 and $7 million this year, leaving the team with about $10 million in cap space (and plenty of in-house moves that could open more space).

If the Patriots pick up their option for the second year of Revis' deal, they'll lock in a $12 million roster bonus on April 1st, plus the remaining $5 million of his guaranteed signing bonus, $7.5 million in base salary and up to $500,000 in per game bonuses. That would equal a mammoth cap hit of $24.5 to $25 million. If the Patriots decline the 2015 option, Revis becomes an unrestricted free agent with the Patriots carrying a cap charge of $5 million in dead money.

The second year of the contract is bogus; the Patriots would obviously never pick up an option that onerous, and reportedly have every intention of signing Revis to a long term deal before it gets to that point. However, making the deal a two year structure serves two critical purposes, one benefiting each party.

From a Patriots perspective, the two year structure allows them to split Revis' signing bonus into two payments. This was the only conceivable way to give Revis that much guaranteed money without taking a huge cap hit. Technically speaking, it's a two year $32 million deal but realistically (there's no way in hell the Patriots pick up that option) it's still for the one year $12 million that was initially reported.

For Revis, the second year is important because it delays the Patriots ability to franchise him, giving the player more leverage. Many were particularly excited at the news last night that the Revis deal lacked a "no-tag" provision, and that report is still true. The catch is that, under the two year structure, the Patriots wouldn't be able to tag Revis until after the 2015 season. After this year, if they don't have a long-term deal worked out the Pats can either

1. decline the 2015 option, sending Revis back to the open market, or
2. pick it up and pay him $20 million for 2015, with a $25 million cap charge thanks to that deferred signing bonus money. 

The Pats are free to franchise Revis after that option (which, remember, is bogus and won't get picked up in the first place), but since that 2015 option is for $20 million, that would make a franchise tag for Revis cost a whopping $30 million guaranteed in 2016. Not. Happening.

This explains the tweets from Revis business manager John Gieger last night, reminding people that nothing was official yet despite the Revis deal being reported by every outlet in the nation.

As of now, nothing has been agreed to with Revis and Patriots.
— John Geiger (@JohnGeiger_) March 13, 2014

My guess? The Patriots and Revis had already agreed in principle to one year, $12 million, and likely leaked those terms out to the press to quell the widespread irrational panic spreading quickly throughout New England. However, both sides were still working on hammering out a structure that could benefit both sides. In fact, Gieger didn't confirm the deal as official until 6:50 am today.

Now it's Official. @Revis24 has agreed to terms with the New England Patriots !
— John Geiger (@JohnGeiger_) March 13, 2014

As for figuring out a compromise to benefit both sides? Boy, did they do that. The Patriots managed to add Revis without cutting too deeply into their cap space, allowing them the flexibility to add more pieces this year. Essentially, they're buying a year of Revis' services on the relative cheap, with the additional prospect of working out a long-term deal to keep Revis Island in New England for the rest of his prime. Worst case scenario, you get Revis in 2014 for cheap and swallow $5 million next year under the expanded cap.

Revis, for his part, ensured one of the following three options for himself:

1. $12 million guaranteed plus a long-term extension with New England, the team he clearly wanted to go to
2. $12 million guaranteed plus hitting unrestricted free agency again next year
3. $32 million plus hitting unrestricted free agency in 2016

These negotiations were billed as a meeting of the minds between two of the league's most shrewd businessmen. As it turns out, both sides can come away pretty happy with the results.