N.Y. Jets, Revis still far apart on contract

Associated Press

CORTLAND, N.Y.

The negotiations between the New York Jets and holdout cornerback Darrelle Revis are going behind closed doors.

No more finger pointing through the media, and no more public back-and-forth.

The Jets and Revis’ agents, Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod, issued a joint statement Thursday — a cease-fire of sorts — saying they’ll keep all future talks out of the public eye after things got snippy earlier this week.

“Both parties have had conversations to clear the air and will continue to negotiate with the hopes of reaching an agreement,” the statement read. “From this point forward, all discussions regarding these negotiations will remain confidential.”

Revis has missed 12 days, including Thursday, since the team reported for training camp at SUNY Cortland. He’s scheduled to make $1 million in the fourth year of his six-year rookie deal, but wants to become the league’s highest-paid cornerback. That distinction belongs to Oakland’s Nnamdi Asomugha, who signed a three-year, $45.3 million extension last offseason.

Revis’ holdout is one of the major story lines on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” which premiered Wednesday night. The program chronicled the last few weeks of negotiations, including a meeting last Friday in which no agreement was reached. In one scene, a frustrated general manager Mike Tannenbaum said he felt “like a failure” because “we haven’t moved the needle” in the six months the sides have been talking.

There were some accusations made by both sides earlier in the week, with owner Woody Johnson saying he was “rebuffed” by Revis’ agents when he asked if he could be part of that meeting at the Roscoe Diner in Roscoe, N.Y., last Friday. Schwartz responded by saying that was “a blatant lie” and that Johnson was given “incorrect” information. He also said he’d meet Johnson “any time, any place.”

On Wednesday, Jets coach Rex Ryan even got into it, saying he came up with a plan to end the talks. He suggested he give the team a day off from practice so the entire organization could sit down with Revis, his agents and anyone else the star player wanted in an effort to complete a deal.