Cutting Darrelle Revis was all about the money for the Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers cut Darrelle Revis earlier this season, and it was all about money. They simply didn't want to pay $16 million to a cornerback. And then, the Bucs say it wasn't about money. This irks me, because it's nonsense.

When asked about whether Darrelle Revis was cut because of money, Jason Licht told Booger McFarland and Marc Ryan of CBS Tampa Bay "I don't really want to say that. I'm just saying because we were able to come to an agreement, we were able to make some progress."

In other words: it was absolutely about the money. Darrelle Revis' salary was not in tune with what they wanted to pay for a cornerback under their system. But make no mistake: they could have kept Revis and done nearly everything they did in free agency. Alterraun Verner alone costs $9 million against the cap this year, and the Bucs could have reduced Revis' cap hit by pushing some into the future, or they could have been a little more conservative in free agency.

So when Licht says something like "We're able to build a team because of the decision we made [to cut Revis]," that's just a euphemism for "Revis was too expensive." There's nothing wrong with that thought process. It's just a bit silly to pretend it's not about money. It's always about money.