Nick Mangold Shown The Money By New York Jets: What About Darrelle Revis?

The Jets have made Nick Mangold the highest-paid center in the National Football League.

The 26-year-old former Buckeye inked a seven-year, $55 million deal with over $25 million guaranteed ($4 million signing bonus fully guaranteed, $22.5 million guaranteed against injury).

Mangold was one of the seemingly forgotten contract disputes lingering over Jets camp this summer, while the behemoth that is Darrelle Revis has been front and center since before training camp even began.

Mangold decided to man up and report to camp instead of holding out for a better deal. I’d like to think that the Jets’ brass took notice of his unselfish behavior and rewarded it with the lucrative contract that was just agreed upon.

This deal locks up two of the Jets' “Core Four” (Nick Mangold, Darrelle Revis, David Harris, and D’Brickashaw Ferguson) as Ferguson signed a six-year extension in July.

While Jets fans are ecstatic about the Mangold signing, the big question still remains: What about Revis?

I’m under the impression that Mangold’s contract is somewhat of a jab at Revis. Essentially the Jets are showing the football world that had Revis decided not to hold out (again) and instead showed up at camp, he might already have a deal in place that would have satisfied all parties.

This is not to say that Mangold’s contract is undeserving or inflated. He’s easily one of the top three centers in the league and deserves to be paid accordingly. But with Mangold opting against a holdout, that put the Jets in the driver’s seat regarding his contract. So the timing of this deal seems conspicuous because the Jets had the leverage to wait until season’s end to offer him a new contract.

But the Jets might have just shot themselves in the foot. By giving Mangold the deal they just have, it could give the Revis camp another bargaining chip. The stakes are higher now and if the Jets don’t offer Revis a deal with guaranteed money that’s satisfactory (and soon), this holdout will go into the regular season for at least the first two games.

The Jets and Revis are playing a game of “chicken.” Jets Nation is waiting to see who’s going to swerve first, and the outcome of the Jets-Ravens game will determine who has the advantage.

If the secondary shuts down Joe Flacco, the upper hand is with the Jets...if they get torched, Revis has it.

Then everyone will be waiting to see what happens against the Patriots in week two. If both Flacco and Tom Brady light up the Meadowlands, Revis will basically be able to dictate his contract. But if the secondary plays big for the first two weeks and shuts down two high-powered air attacks, Revis will be licking his wounds.

The worst-case scenario would be a split. If the secondary shows up one week and not the other, that would push the standoff to week three. If after three games, the Jets are 1-2 or, even worse, 0-3, the return of Revis might not be enough to save what would seem to be a season destined for doom and familiar groans of “same old Jets.”

In my opinion, it behooves the Jets to get Revis signed before September 13th. Letting this already tedious holdout continue into the regular season has no positive value for either side, and in the end the real losers are the Jet fans that have been hypnotized by Super Bowl hype.