Decline of Darrelle Revis and Josh Norman Should Have Jets, Washington Worried

So that's all $17 million buys these days? Sheesh.

The Jets are paying Darrelle Revis $17 million this season. He sits atop their budget ledger, according to Over the Cap, earning more guaranteed money in 2016 than second- and third-ranked earners Muhammad Wilkerson and Brandon Marshall. Combined. 

And what return did the Jets get on that investment Sunday? With Revis in coverage, Cincinnati's A.J. Green caught 10 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown, according to Connor Hughes of N.J. Advance Media. (Green went 12-180-1 overall.) Green caught a 54-yard touchdown with Revis running two steps behind him like a baby brother chasing the big kids trying to ditch him.

There's an internet school of cornerback evaluation that expects an All-Pro cornerback to blanket the opponent's best receiver for 70 snaps, allowing just one catch on a screen pass for a loss of four yards. As soon as the cornerback gets caught on the business end of a game-break highlight, we tweet "OVERRATED," then wait for the next defender with a big reputation to make one mistake. Revis has been "OVERRATED" by that standard for about five years, making three Pro Bowls and helping the Patriots win a Super Bowl along the way.

So let's not talk about that 54-yard touchdown. Revis clearly expected safety help, and he didn't get it.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Let's talk about the final drive instead.

Green caught a pair of quick outs against Revis along the sideline. Revis whiffed on the first tackle, allowing Green to turn upfield for extra yardage (and draw a facemask penalty from Marcus Gilchrist on the cleanup tackle). Revis dove at Green's cleats and barely tripped him on the second catch. The tackle saved a first down, but the catch put the Bengals in easy game-winning field-goal range.

Revis-caliber cornerbacks are supposed to stop sideline receptions on fourth-quarter drives. They should at least make sound tackles if they allow the catch. These were plays the Jets are paying $17 million to prevent, and they cannot be blamed on a safety.

"It probably wasn't one of my better games," Revis admitted after the game. "I can take a punch on the chin."

Revis can. His team cannot.

The Jets roster is extremely top-heavy with expensive veteran talent. According to Over the Cap, nearly 43.5 percent of their cap space is eaten up by seven players: Revis, Wilkerson, Marshall, Nick Mangold, Eric Decker, David Harris and Ryan Fitzpatrick. Only the Dolphins have a higher percentage of their cap allotted to their top-tier earners.

The average age of the Jets' seven money monsters is roughly 31, which is also how old Revis is. With the exception of Leonard Williams and Sheldon Richardson on the defensive line, there is no blue-chip young talent anywhere. The Jets have a win-now roster, and any drop-off in performance by their Magnificently Paid Seven will cripple their ability to compete this year and cast a pall over the future.

So it's a big deal that Revis, the King Croesus of cornerbacks, spent three hours dropping off Sunday.

Head coach Todd Bowles said at Tuesday's press conference that Revis won't always be locked in against the opponent's top receiver. "We change every week," he said. "Whether it's good or bad, we try to change [it] up a little every week."

When asked about the possibility of Revis covering a No. 2 receiver while the top receiver draws a double-team—a tactic the Patriots often used with him—Bowles said, "We've done it before, and we've talked about it and we've looked at it. Certain games will require that."

The Jets did move Revis around to cover No. 2 receivers, troublesome slot receivers and elite tight ends when they employed the erratic but talented Antonio Cromartie, who would follow his 54-yard toastings with bait-and-pick interceptions.

Sliding Revis around was a luxury for the Jets of the past and the 2014 Patriots, with their excellent safeties and fastidious game plans. The Jets are in trouble if it becomes a necessity. (For example, with Sammy Watkins and not much else, there should be no reason for Revis to cover the No. 2 receiver Thursday night against the Bills. Do the Bills even have a No. 2 receiver?)

At least Bowles is prepared to move Revis around. Washington spent $50 million guaranteed on Josh Norman in the offseason. On Sunday, head coach Jay Gruden looked like the middle-aged guy who felt great driving the two-seater hot rod away from the dealership but then realized he has no way to drop off the kids at school.

Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Norman spent Monday night planted firmly at left cornerback, on the right side of the offensive formation. The Steelers saw this and kept Antonio Brown on the left from the second quarter onward. Bashaud Breeland covered the NFL's best receiver. Norman waited on the right, just in case the NFL suddenly lifted Martavis Bryant's suspension mid-game. When that didn't happen, Norman covered the other Steelers receivers: stone-handed Sammie Coates, undrafted Eli Rogers and Donny D. Decoy.

But Norman is a left cornerback, like Richard Sherman, the guy at the water cooler says, as though Norman would explode if he ventured onto the wrong side of the field. Yes, Norman prefers the left side, and great cornerbacks like Sherman are often more effective when they line up "by sides," but:

1. Sherman is part of the greatest secondary in history and therefore can afford a little specialization.
2. Sherman has matched up against the opponent's top receivers when the Seahawks have had a crisis at the other cornerback slot, like a rash of injuries or Cary Williams.
3. Cornerbacks in the Norman-Revis-Sherman tax bracket are expected to be a little flexible, especially with potential Brown-versus-Breeland mismatches staring their teams in the face.

Mark Tenally/Associated Press

Gruden sounds reluctant to tinker with Norman in a shut-down-the-superstar role. "The issue is you like to not show your hand in man-to-man all the time, and so every time he travels, it's man-to-man," he said earlier in the week.

Yeah, coach, you wouldn't want to do anything an opponent can easily scheme against, like always line the most important player in your secondary up in the exact same place.

Right now, Ben McAdoo is placing sticky notes on every page in his playbook where Odell Beckham Jr. and Victor Cruz line up on the left side of the formation. If something doesn't change, Norman will earn $5 million in base salary this season to chase Sterling Shepard on clear-out routes and stand next to Terrance Williams while watching Dez Bryant score touchdowns. At least he will be spared the indignity of getting beaten by the NFL's best receivers one-on-one. That will be Breeland's problem.

Now for the Week 1 jump-to-conclusions disclaimer: Revis is going to have better games. As Bowles said Tuesday, he has rights and responsibilities that other cornerbacks don't have. He's allowed to adjust his alignment and coverage technique based on the opponent and situation. If he has lost a step, he can find a way to compensate, with the help of some easier assignments and more alert safeties.

Norman can have an impact, even if he remains stationed on one half of the field. Not every offense can funnel its passing game to the left side. And Breeland can take care of himself against many receivers.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

But the Jets and Redskins faced teams that each had one downfield weapon to stop. The Bengals don't have Marvin Jones or Mohamed Sanu anymore, and Tyler Eifert is hurt. The Steelers, as noted, are completely Brown-centric in the passing game. The Jets and Redskins defenses had one job; Norman and Revis were expressly paid to do that kind of job.

If the two highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL couldn't stop Green and Brown from lighting up their defenses for 306 yards and three touchdowns, what's the point of paying them so much?

The Jets are a .500 team—an old, expensive .500 team—without the shutdown version of Revis. In Washington, it needs reassurance that Norman isn't Albert Haynesworth 2.0: a once-great player who turns into a pile of flaming money if asked to move slightly out of his comfort zone.

These are expensive problems. Revis, Norman and their coaches had better be in a hurry to find some solutions.