Revis Island to Tampa Bay: Are the Rumors an Oasis or a Mirage?

Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

The offseason is a time for wishful thinking. When grown men bookmark YouTube highlight films like children dogearing the toy section of a department store catalog. Fans run rampant on the twittersphere with lofty aspirations of reeling in that big-ticket free agent or completing the next blockbuster trade.

Mandatory Credit: Mitch Stringer-USA TODAY Sports

Since Jets Owner Woody Johnson let it slip that the team was interested in trading all-everything cornerback Darrelle Revis at the end of January, Bucs fans have been throwing trade proposals against the proverbial wall to see what sticks.  And yesterday afternoon, something finally did.

Just after 4pm Wednesday, Ed Werder was quoted on Rotoworld saying that the Jets were “dealing from a position of obvious weakness,” and that suitors would “consider giving up a (second-round pick) or less.” Werder went on to name Tampa, San Francisco, Atlanta and Detroit as candidates for a possible trade. If Johnson indeed drops Revis’ first-round price tag, the Bucs would be crazy not to explore a deal for the soon-to-be twenty-eight year old.

When this tweet hit the fan, many Bucs’ realists, who once thought a trade would be unlikely, were suddenly lunging for a seat at the Revis trade table, myself included. Local bi-modular radio host Justin Pawlowski of 98.7 WFAN tweeted his response to Werder’s assessment: “2nd round pick? Ok!” The astute Pawlowski also pointed out that current Jets G.M. John Idzik once worked alongside Dominik in the Bucs’ front office, where he rose from a Pro Personnel Assistant to Assistant G.M. from 1993 to 2004. The Commish drew another Bucs-Revis parallel when he wrote that newly hired Dave Wanstedt and one-year Bucs asst. DB’s coach Jeff Hafley, were Revis’ head coach and positions coach, respectively, at Pittsburgh.

Revis tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on September 23rd, during a game against Miami. He had surgery on that knee on October 16th; 142 days ago to be precise. He has started all 16 games in four seasons of his six-year career, missing three games in 2010 with a hamstring injury.  Coincidentally enough, 2010 was the year Revis held out of training camp for a four-year $32 million extension (or extortion, if you are in Johnson’s shoes). It is safe to say that Revis is a durable player, as long as he gets his reps in August. Obviously a medical examination would need to be performed on his knee by any and all teams in the hunt. It has been well documented that Bucs G.M. Mark Dominik has been no coward when it comes to evaluating knee injuries with players like Kellen Winslow Jr., Antonio Bryant and Da’Quan Bowers.

Could this be the reason that the Bucs have yet to sign Michael Bennett and Roy Miller? Did they restructure deals with Vincent Jackson and Carl Nicks, in order to land arguably the best defensive back in the NFL? If the perceived trade value on Revis is in fact falling, we will more than likely see a trade happen before Tuesday, March 12th. The Jets must take advantage of the market now, before free agent cornerbacks are fair game.

The Bucs have been used to drive the price up on players in the past, but if this trade were to happen, Schiano and Dominik would be making a major statement about how close they perceive this team to be from being serious contenders.

So what do you think, Buccaneer fans? Is Revis seriously a possibility for the Buccaneers? Or is it all just a smoke screen? Let us know in the comments below!