Darrelle Revis will officially retire with the New York Jets

Darrelle Revis was the best shutdown corner over the 2010s. Some fans claim he’s overrated, but the numbers and his play say otherwise. He wiped wide receivers out and marooned them on Revis Island for years. Unfortunately, the former 14th overall pick’s playing days are at an end. He’ll sign and retire as a member of the New York Jets within the week.

Patrick Peterson, Richard Sherman, and now Jalen Ramsey have been associated with the term “shutdown corner” in recent years. They are top-notch coverage specialists, but none of them have gotten to where Revis was. It’s a different era now, but no one is close to Revis’ historic years. His fundamentals and ability to diagnose routes and stay with receivers was just uncanny, and he wasn’t as fast or athletic as some of the guys in the league now.

During his 11-year career, Revis made seven Pro Bowls and was a First-Team All-Pro four times. The four years he didn’t make the Pro Bowl were his rookie season, 2012 (when he only played in two games), and the last two seasons of his career. Revis only has 29 career interceptions, but that’s not surprising since teams were afraid to even throw at him. Just look at 2010 when he was a First-Team All-Pro but had zero interceptions.

Revis will be forever remembered as a New York Jet, and one of the best players to ever wear the team’s uniform. However, he won Super Bowl XLIX with the New England Patriots in 2014, which was his final All-Pro campaign. The Jets are partly to blame for Revis leaving in the first place.

After the superstar tore his ACL tear two games into 2012, New York chose not to bet on him recovering. Revis signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a year, made the Pro Bowl, and then joined the Patriots.

So Revis’ first departure from New York was on the team. The second time was on him. In 2015, he rejoined the Jets, made another Pro Bowl, but played horribly in 2016. He was so bad that no one blamed the Jets for moving on. Revis didn’t have the speed and athleticism to play at the level he was accustomed to. He went on to play in five games with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017.

Hard feelings aside, Revis will retire as a Jet, presumably by signing a one-day contract in the coming week. It’s good to see that the two sides are willing to come together and celebrate the retirement of the greatest corner of his generation and the best defender in Jets history.