Now, he'll have plenty of coin to buy them all the ibuprofen they need. (photo: Marianne, O'Leary)
Revis, who is widely considered the NFL's best cornerback (and arguably the best defensive player in the game) but is coming off a significant ACL injury, signed a six-year earn-as-you-go contract worth $96 million with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday after being traded by the New York Jets.
With a base salary of $13 million and a pair of $1.5 million yearly bonuses, the cornerback will match Buffalo Bills defensive end Mario Williams' record-setting contract of last year. To add context, Revis will be paid like an elite franchise quarterback.
According to spotrac.com, Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos is the only signal-caller to have a larger base salary ($20 million) than Revis, with his brother, Eli Manning of the New York Giants, earning a base salary of $13 million -- the same as Revis.
When factoring in bonuses, Baltimore Ravens' Joe Flacco, New Orleans Saints' Drew Brees and Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo will make more annually. Eli and New England Patriots' Tom Brady, among others, will make less.
The Jets, who received the Buccaneers' 13th overall pick in the 2013 draft and a conditional choice in 2014, simply weren't game for paying a cornerback that kind of money -- at least not one who has yet to prove his ACL injury, which caused him to miss the last 75 percent of the 2012 season, wasn't going to impede him moving forward.
Neither were 30 other teams, as Tampa Bay was really the only interested party.
Revis's new contract reportedly has zero dollars guaranteed, so if he doesn't regain his tip-top form, Tampa Bay can cut him after 2014 with no strings attached. That is, of course, after paying him $16 million for one season.
The Bucs are likely to give him at least two years, because unless he's a total flop in 2013 (which is unlikely), he'll get a minimum of two seasons to prove himself.
Without Revis's services for most of the season, the Jets' pass defense surrendered the second-lowest completion percentage and second-fewest yards in the league.
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