Darrelle Revis Facing A Choice: Be A Mercenary Or Be The Man

BOSTON (CBS) -- Whichever route Darrelle Revis decides to explore, it's important to note ahead of time that he cannot be blamed.

He enters the offseason, during which he'll turn 30, at the very top of his profession, having climbed all the way back from a knee injury that cost him one season and essentially required another full season for recovery. He reestablished himself as one of the best three or so cornerbacks in football and set himself up to get paid this offseason, if he so chooses.

But of course, Revis has another choice. His arrival in New England last summer came with exceptionally high expectations, and Revis met or exceeded all of them. He came to New England to help transform the defense and win a championship. He succeeded in both endeavors.

So now, Revis faces a decision. Though he is technically under contract with the Patriots for the 2015 season, it's a near-guarantee that the team won't keep him aboard with the $25 million salary cap hit that accompanies that deal. What's more realistic is the expectation that the Patriots will meet with Revis and his agents in the hopes of working out an extension that works for both sides.

That's where things get tricky.

It's been a few years, but during his first six years in the league, Revis established himself not only as one of the best corners in the game but also as one of the most difficult players to keep happy with regard to his contract. He held out until Aug. 19 in his rookie season of 2007 before agreeing on a six-year, $36 million contract, and he milked every last possible dime out of the Jets three summers later, refusing to show up to work until Sept. 7, after agreeing to a four-year extension which guaranteed him $32 million. (He was feted as a hero when he did arrive, as famously depicted on "Hard Knocks.") He wanted to renegotiate that deal in 2012, and in 2010, he admitted that he took himself out of some minicamp drills with "exaggerated" claims of tight hamstrings and lightheadedness.

This is all to state to the obvious: Darrelle Revis wants to make every single dollar he possibly can during his time in the NFL.

That's not a bad thing. Though the word "mercenary" gets thrown around as a mark against a player's character, the reality is that the deck is stacked against players in the NFL to be paid their proper due. Contracts are not guaranteed, and though a player may choose to be loyal to a team, the courtesy is rarely, if ever, reciprocated. In a salary cap league, teams can't afford to care about a player.

That much was clear in 2012 and 2013, when Revis suffered a season-ending knee injury and was unceremoniously traded to the Buccaneers, a team that had gone 42-54 during Revis' time in the NFL. The team that drafted, developed and paid Revis like a superstar cut bait when the injured cornerback was deemed too expensive.

Granted, Revis wasn't exactly the easiest employee that Woody Johnson ever had to deal with, but still, he was traded for a draft pick. That hurts.

So Revis went to Tampa Bay, where he earned millions of dollars only to be used in Greg Schiano's zone defense while recovering from the torn ACL. The Bucs went 4-12 and then they, too, determined Revis to not be worth his six-year, $96 million contract, considering where they were at as an organization.

The Buccaneers released Revis on March 12. One of the best cornerbacks in the game had been dumped twice in as many years. Can you picture that happening at any other position? Can you imagine the Patriots trading Tom Brady after the 2008 season, and then the team that gave up a high draft pick to get him simply cutting ties a year later? It would be madness.

It came as no surprise, then, that when Revis signed his next deal, he was drawn to the Patriots. For all that he had been through, with Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan and Greg Schiano as his head coaches, with Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens and Brett Favre and Mark Sanchez and Mike Glennon and Josh Freeman as his quarterbacks, with Bob Sutton and Mike Pettine and Bill Sheridan as his defensive coordinators, it makes sense that the stability found in the Robert Kraft-Bill Belichick-Tom Brady trio appealed to Revis.

Revis' free agency lasted all of three hours before he was signed up to be a New England Patriot.

The aforementioned expectations were clear: Revis would shut down the opponents' best receivers, every single week, thereby allowing the rest of the defensive backfield to be that much better. The extra time to rush the quarterback would allow Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich to wreak havoc. The ease of responsibility would allow Patrick Chung to play to his strengths. Devin McCourty could aid in coverage on the cornerbacks not named Darrelle.

In a perfect world, he'd prove to be the key piece in turning the defense into a formidable unit en route to winning a Super Bowl.

And that's where things got really crazy. Everything worked to a tee.

Revis came to New England for a reason, and the job has been completed. All of which brings him to his current state. Though his options are limited at the moment, it's still within his ability to say "thanks but no thanks" to any talk of reworking his contract, thereby essentially forcing the Patriots to cut him or trade him. Another year, another team, and the "mercenary" tag permanently attaches itself to Revis.

Revis could go that route, cash in, make top dollar for the next three years, and if he does, he should not be vilified. There are only a handful of folks in the universe who can rightfully ask for Patrick Peterson ($47 million guaranteed) or Richard Sherman ($40 million guaranteed) money, and right now, Revis can. Never again will he have as much leverage as he has at this moment.

But there is another option. Having shared a practice field and a locker room with Tom Brady, having spent a season in the system of a Hall of Fame coach, and having experienced the ultimate glory of winning a Super Bowl, it's not out of the realm of possibility that Revis sees his next decision as much more than a contract. In New England, if you can win and you can stick around for a while, you'll have a job for the rest of your life. It's why Tedy Bruschi's still hawking pizzas while Ty Law and Troy Brown are still talking football on TV. It's a hallowed fraternity, the group of Patriots who have won Super Bowls, and Revis is now a part of it. If he chooses to take a few million fewer dollars in the short term, he could set himself up for life. Forever, he could make himself "The Man" in New England.

It's a tricky decision, one that's both enviable and not. But it's up to Revis and Revis alone to decide what he wants to do. He is a man truly on an island, left to choose whether to swim for shore or wait and hope for that cruise ship to come and offer him a long-term home.

Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.