9:29am: The Raiders and Chiefs are also fighting to get into the Revis sweepstakes, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Oakland, of course, has much more financial flexibility than Kansas City, but the Chiefs have the Bob Sutton connection and are closer to contention.
9:12am: The Patriots have a little less than six hours to work out a new agreement with cornerback Darrelle Revis. If the two sides don’t agree to a new deal, the Pats will cut the star corner, rather than pick up his pricey option for 2015. While the Jets have long been considered the only real threat to the Pats in the Revis sweepstakes, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com adds another potential suitor to the mix, tweeting that the Browns have expressed interest in Revis.
On the surface, Cleveland seems like an odd fit for Revis. The team already has one star cornerback in Joe Haden, and spent the eighth overall pick a year ago on Justin Gilbert. However, Buster Skrine appears to be on his way out in free agency, and Gilbert had a shaky rookie season both on and off the field. The Browns head into today’s free agent period armed with a ton of cap space, and Revis has played under Mike Pettine before in New York, back when the current Browns head coach was the Jets’ defensive coordinator.
I’d still rank the Browns a distant third behind (in some order) the Jets and Pats when it comes to potential destinations for Revis, but if Cleveland makes a huge offer, the cornerback could at least consider joining the Browns. A report yesterday indicated the price tag for Revis could be in the neighborhood of three years and $48MM, with $40MM in guaranteed money.