Yes, it would be a very good idea for Jets owner Woody Johnson to surrender the keys to the car. Or, at a minimum, to learn how to properly drive it.
In his Monday press conference regarding the decision to fire coach Rex Ryan and G.M. John Idzik, Johnson committed a textbook tampering violation regarding Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis.
“Darrelle is a great player, and if I thought I could have gotten Darrelle for [what the Patriots paid], I probably would’ve taken him,” Johnson said, via the Boston Herald. “And it was our best judgment to do what we did. Darrelle is a great player. I’d love for Darrelle to come back.”
Revis remains the property of the Patriots, who signed him to a two-year contract after Revis was cut by the Buccaneers. The large salary and cap number for 2015 will compel a renegotiation; Revis now knows that he has an alternative and, in turn, leverage in his coming talks with the Patriots.
From the league’s anti-tampering policy: “Any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club’s player to that player’s agent or representative, or to a member of the news media, is a violation of this Anti-Tampering Policy. (Example of a prohibited comment: ‘He’s an excellent player, and we’d very much like to have him if he were available, but another club holds his rights.’)”
Said Johnson in a press conference: “Darrelle is a great player. I’d love for Darrelle to come back.”
The league, via the Herald, has no comment on the situation. It’s unknown whether the Patriots plan to file formal tampering charges.
Regardless of what happens next, it’s clear that Johnson violated the policy as written.