Revis Island relocates to Tampa

Tampa, FL – Darrelle Revis is now a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

The Bucs acquired the superstar cornerback from the Jets on Sunday in a trade that will send a first-round pick in Thursday's draft and a conditional choice in 2014 back to New York.

Revis also agreed to a six-year contract worth a reported $96 million, of which none is guaranteed.

That's not an issue for the four-time Pro Bowl selection many consider the top cornerback in football.

"This contract is unique in a lot of ways," Revis said during a Monday press conference. "I know the specifics of it. I know there's no guarantees. It is what it is. I'm a confident person. I'm a confident player. I have to play and have to perform. The contract will take care of itself. I just have to go out and play."

The question of when Revis will be able to play also came up, but he wouldn't discuss his recovery process from surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in Week 3 last season.

"I'm working as hard as I can," Revis stated. "We're going to do the best we can to prepare to play football."

The first game of the 2013 season just happens to be against the Jets at MetLife Stadium next September.

"It's going to be fun," Revis added. "That's Week 1. I'm excited about it."

There had been speculation since January, when John Idzik took over as Jets general manager for the fired Mike Tannenbaum, that Revis was on the trading block. Rumors of a deal to Tampa Bay had been brewing for weeks.

Revis said there is no animosity toward his old team.

"It didn't happen in New York and for certain reasons," he said. "I'm here now and I'm a Buc. That's how it's going to be for six years.

"I don't have anything to prove to the New York Jets, I have nothing to prove to anybody. I know my expectations as a player. I don't have a chip for the New York Jets. I have a chip because I want to get back on the field and play ball."

Revis could have become a free agent after the 2013 season and had issues with Jets management in the past, leading to thoughts he would not re-sign with the club next offseason. He held out as a rookie after being selected in the first round of the 2007 draft and had a lengthy holdout in 2010 before signing a long-term contract.

On Sunday, Idzik said it became evident "that there was a substantial difference between Darrelle's view of his value and ours."

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik indicated that trade talks heated up last Thursday and said it took quite a few hours of discussions to make it work.

"There were times I wasn't sure this was going to happen," said Dominik. "We knew there was a deadline for this to happen. There was an element of time and we had lots of good conversations with John Idzik. There was probably a good 5-6 hours of talks. At the end of the day, we feel it was a win-win situation for both teams."

Dominik added the opportunity to bring in a star player to the team's emerging young group was too good to pass up. The Bucs were 10-6 in 2010 and missed the playoffs, then stumbled to 4-12 in 2011 and finished 7-9 last year.

"You win in this league with your starters and your stars," he remarked. "For us, with Darrelle Revis, it was the opportunity to bring in the elite player, to bring in the impact player."

The Bucs haven't reached the playoffs since 2007 and haven't won a postseason game since capturing their lone Super Bowl title after the 2002 campaign.