CORTLAND, N.Y. -- Rex Ryan's next starring role: The Negotiator.
The brash New York Jets coach has come up with a game plan to get holdout All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis back on the field. And everyone in the organization is invited.
"We'll call off practice," Ryan said Wednesday. "We'll have our whole team there and meet. That way, there's no, 'he said, she said' or whatever. Just get the thing done, and let's work it out that way."
Don't laugh. Despite HBO and NFL Films taping the Jets throughout training camp for their "Hard Knocks" series, Ryan wasn't just playing it up for the cameras.
"Absolutely serious," he said -- with no smile.
When asked if he actually would make an appeal to Revis' agents to have an organization-wide meeting, Ryan said: "I'm making it right now. I know it'll get to them."
Ryan also shot down agent Neil Schwartz's accusation that someone in the Jets' organization lied about whether or not owner Woody Johnson was invited to a meeting between the sides last Friday. Johnson said he was "rebuffed" by Revis' camp.
"All right, that's a blatant joke to me," Ryan said.
Revis has missed 11 days, including Wednesday, since the Jets reported for training camp at SUNY Cortland. He is scheduled to make $1 million in the fourth year of his six-year rookie deal, but he wants to become the NFL's highest-paid cornerback.
Revis is seeking a deal more lucrative than the three-year, $45.3 million extension that Nnamdi Asomugha of the Oakland Raiders signed last offseason. Revis hasn't publicly commented since minicamp in June.
"It's hard to get a deal done if Darrelle's not there because ultimately, it's his future," Ryan said. "Get him there, whoever's there. His teammates would love it because they'd get a practice off. So, that's what I'm calling for right now."
Revis is being fined $16,523 for each day he misses, meaning he's already out $181,753. By sitting out, he also waived a clause in his contract that would have guaranteed him $20 million over the last two years of his deal. Also, by not reporting by Aug. 10, Revis will not receive credit for this year as an accrued season toward free agency.
"He wants him here," Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez said of Ryan's plea to Revis. "I mean, he's serious. It's difficult as players because we don't know exactly down to the number what is really going on. So, it's hard to say, 'Well, he should be here,' or, 'He shouldn't be here.' All I can say is I hope it gets resolves soon without any more holdups."
The holdout situation took a snippy turn Tuesday as both sides went back and forth through the media.
Johnson told 1050 ESPN New York that he was "rebuffed" by Revis' agents when he asked to be part of a meeting attended by general manager Mike Tannenbaum, director of football administration Ari Nissim, Schwartz and business partner Jonathan Feinsod last Friday at a diner in Roscoe, N.Y.
"That's a blatant lie," Schwartz said. "Whoever gave him that information is incorrect. I wanted Mr. Johnson's thoughts on the proposal, so why would I not want him there?" Schwartz added that he would meet with Johnson "any time, any place."
The Jets turned down that contract proposal, and Johnson said Monday he wasn't optimistic a deal could be done before the season. He also told 1050 ESPN New York that the gap between the sides is "insurmountable."
"If we're really trying to be dealmakers and you've got everybody's interest at the best heart," Ryan said, "then let's do it this way. I bet it gets done if we do it that way."
It's believed one major sticking point is the lack of guaranteed money and bonuses included in the Jets' offers. But Tannenbaum disagrees with that assessment.
"As I said at the start of training camp, our offer to Darrelle Revis conveyed that we are flexible on how the guaranteed money is structured, including the areas of signing bonus, roster bonus and option bonus," Tannenbaum said in a statement Tuesday night. "This situation revolves around a fundamental disagreement in total compensation."
Ryan said he was part of a 5-hour sit-down earlier in the offseason with Revis' agents, when the sides tried to settle the dispute.
"That was a rough 5 hours I spent," Ryan said. "I was sitting back, saying, 'You couldn't pay me enough to be a general manager of a team.' There's no way. I mean, it was frustrating for me, and I was just there for the one 5-hour period. I almost quit."
Meanwhile, the team insists it will press on with its Super Bowl hopes, whether Revis reports or not.
"Everybody knows what I think of Darrelle and all that kind of stuff," Ryan said. "It would be much easier to win it with him. But, it's certainly not impossible to win it without him."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
