It was assumed that New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who took a pay cut last March so the team had more room under the salary cap, deserved credit for the team signing cornerback Darrelle Revis on Wednesday.
Surely, the Patriots would want to surround Brady with the best supporting cast possible to help him get another ring as the window starts to close on the soon-to-be 37-year-old.
The Boston Globe, however, credited another prominent player for inducing the Patriots to sign what some argue is the best cornerback in the NFL: Peyton Manning.
The Globe argued that Manning's 2013 season with the Denver Broncos and the Broncos' dismantling of the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game convinced New England coach Bill Belichick that he needed more talent to compete with Manning's high-powered offense.
According to the Globe, "it's a sudden change of direction for the Patriots to have the highest-paid player at a position where nickel and dime have been more than just the personnel packages the Patriots deploy.
"Bringing Revis aboard is also a tacit admission from Belichick of an inexorable truth of defense in today's NFL - it's about skill over scheme."
Manning threw for more than 400 yards, completed 74 percent of his passes and led the Broncos to scores on six straight possessions during their 26-16 championship game victory over Belichick's Patriots.
"It was an acknowledgment (by Belichick) that talent trumps any long-held team-building tenets, that loading up for a year isn't foolhardy and that having the best bottom third of the roster is not the way to stand atop the NFL," the Boston Globe argued.
The Globe went on to bring up Revis' minor issue with the Patriots when he was a member of the New York Jets in 2009. Revis took exception to a comment Belichick made, saying that Revis had help when he shut down then-Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss.
But that issue is dead, now that Revis is playing for Belichick.
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