Darrelle Revis trade rumors begin to swirl

Is cornerback Darrelle Revis on the trade block? According to a report from CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, Revis very well may be. La Canfora reported on Wednesday that the New York Jets are planning to "explore" possible trade options for Revis this offseason. This directive comes from owner Woody Johnson, who apparently is skeptical about being able to lock Revis up to a contract extension.

Revis' contract voids after the 2013 season, and it stipulates that the Jets won't be able to use the franchise or transition tag on him. (What a great contract, Jets!) As a result, he is going to become an unrestricted free agent unless the Jets are able to sign him to an extension. Considering how much money Revis will want to sign an extension, the Jets may have a tough time offering him enough because of their salary cap issues. As a result, getting something out of him via a trade may make a lot of sense.

Should the Jets actually try to deal Revis, he will generate a lot of interest. Even though he missed most of the 2012 season after tearing his ACL, Revis' value is still extremely high. He's considered the best cornerback in the league, and there will be plenty of teams out there interested in acquiring him.

Let's go ahead and ask the inevitable question: Could the Lions be a potential landing spot for Revis should he be traded? Considering Revis only has a cap hit of $9 million for the 2013 season, the Lions could probably figure out a way to create cap room for him this year. As for what they would have to give up, I'd imagine the Jets would want several high draft picks. Would the Lions be open to trading away the No. 5 pick? If you can get the top cornerback in the league, I'd imagine they wouldn't be too resistant to the idea.

The problem for the Lions is that they would have to sign Revis to a long-term contract to make a deal even worth thinking about. Trading for Revis only to lose him to free agency after one season would just be moronic. As a result, a long-term deal would be a necessity before the trigger is pulled on a trade. I can't even begin to imagine just how big his contract would be, which is why I really can't see the Lions being able to pull off a deal like this. They already have cap issues of their own thanks to the contracts of Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford and Ndamukong Suh. Unless one of those three is moved in the future, I don't see there being enough room for another huge deal.

With all that said, the thought of the Lions somehow acquiring Revis is nice to think about. He would immediately improve the defense, and he would give the Lions a true shutdown cornerback. Getting him would require the Lions to give up draft picks and potentially even a star player, and the chances of a deal actually happening are probably slim to none. But we can dream, right?

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