Oakland Raiders would be wise to steer well clear of the Island

The Oakland Raiders need some help if they want to improve upon one of the league’s worst pass defenses – but, there is one name they should steer well clear of.

It’s no secret the Oakland Raiders need some help in the secondary. Actually, they’ve needed some serious help back there for a few years now.

Given that for the last few seasons, the Raiders have fielded one of the worst pass defenses in the league, now that there’s a new coaching regime in place, it stands to reason that there is going to be some major renovation in the defensive backfield.

The first chip has fallen with the release of cornerback David Amerson. It would seem likely that Sean Smith, given his salary, lack of production, and pending legal matters, will be one of the next out the door.

If the Raiders do as expected and release Smith, and T.J. Carrie walks as a free agent, they’re going to be strapped for bodies. It will leave them in the unenviable position of having Gareon Conley – a guy that seems to have huge upside, but had a redshirt year as a rookie and is way short on actual game experience – and Dexter McDonald manning the corners.

Obviously, Jon Gruden and Reggie McKenzie are going to be looking to upgrade the secondary. They’ll likely look at taking a young playmaker in the Draft, but they’ll also likely be looking for veteran help on the free agent market.

And as they begin perusing the list of free agent candidates, one name they should strike off immediately, is Darrelle Revis.

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When Revis was a free agent last season, there was a slight clamoring for the Raiders to bring him in. Given how poorly our defense had been playing, the idea that Revis might have enough left in the tank to help lift the team up was understandable – even if he hadn’t been very good over the last couple of seasons.

To be fair though, even in serious decline, Revis may, arguably, still have been an upgrade over what the Raiders rolled out on the corners on a weekly basis the last couple of years.

Revis ultimately went on to sign with rival Kansas City – making Chiefs fans salivate over a pairing of Revis and Marcus Peters. Ultimately, Revis play in five games for Kansas City and while he didn’t embarrass himself, he certainly didn’t do anything spectacular.

And he in no way, bore any resemblance whatsoever, to the shutdown corner formerly known as Revis Island.

For a time, Revis dominated at his position. He was arguably, the best cover corner in the entire league. Over his first six seasons with the Jets, Revis terrorized opposing quarterbacks, picking off passes making plays on the ball. During that eight-year span, Revis was able to essentially, shut down one side of the field as quarterbacks refused to throw his way.

That was four seasons and five teams ago though. And Old Man Time, has not necessarily been too kind to Revis.

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Over the last five seasons, Revis has spent time with Tampa Bay, New England, a two-year return engagement with the Jets, and with Kansas City for those five games last year. Over those five seasons, Revis has collected ten interceptions – but five of those were in his 2015 season in New York.

Revis has been a step slower, a little less quick to react, and hasn’t been the ballhawk he was over those first six seasons he used to build his reputation.

If we’ve learned anything about Revis over these past two seasons though – his final year with New York, and his truncated season in Kansas City – it’s that any resemblance to the Revis of old is likely purely coincidental. Kansas City saw it and didn’t want to pay the price tag for another year, so they dropped him like a hot potato.

And yet, despite those facts, despite the fact that Revis is 32, soon-to-be- 33-year old cornerback who has most definitely looked his age these past two seasons, there are still a few folks out there chattering about bringing Revis to the East Bay.

To be fair, the groundswell of pro-Revis support is smaller than it was last season, but the fact that some are still entertaining the notion of bringing Revis in is as laughable as it is appalling.

If the Raiders want to be competitive, they’re going to need to upgrade on the corners. And while at one time, Revis would have been exactly what the defense needed, those days are long past.

Yeah, Oakland might be able to get Revis cheap, but as they say, you get what you pay for.

If the goal is to be genuinely competitive once more, McKenzie and Gruden would do very well to strike Revis Island off as a destination on their bucket list.

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