Revis signs 4-year deal
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Darrelle Revis and Rex Ryan looked at each other, huddled in a conference room in Florida, and immediately knew they had the same game plan.
The New York Jets' star cornerback wanted to get back on the football field.
The brash and boisterous coach badly wanted him there.
"He was smiling like he took a trip to Disney World," Revis recalled Monday. "I was smiling back because this is like a home to me, the New York Jets. It was just good to see him and work something out when we were down there to try to get me back up here."
Revis signed a four-year deal Monday, ending a 36-day holdout that included some acrimonious moments between his agents and general manager Mike Tannenbaum. There were also plenty of doubts that the All-Pro cornerback would play this season.
Perhaps the most crucial moment of the negotiations came Saturday, when both Ryan and owner Woody Johnson flew to Revis' home in South Florida to meet with him, his mother Diana Gilbert and uncle and former NFL player Sean Gilbert to try to solve the contract impasse.
"I think that was a breakthrough, them coming down because I haven't seen them," Revis said. "It was talks with my agents and Tannenbaum most of the time. I just thought when they both came down, it was a big step in this whole situation."
Both Ryan and Johnson said the decision to visit Revis was a group idea, although agent Neil Schwartz said the coach reached out to them Friday night about setting it up.
"First off, I like to travel," a smiling Ryan said of how the trip came about. "That was probably what one of the reasons was. We don't do things exactly by the books of other teams, but we do it our way. It's the New York Jet way."
