--When Darrelle Revis walked onto the Jets' practice field Monday without pads or a uniform, he had what he termed "butterflies."

Revis, who held out for 36 days before signing a four-year deal, said he was worried about whether his teammates "were going to accept me" when he strolled onto the field at the Jets' training complex.

No problem. The players cheered and clapped and subjected him to some good-natured ribbing to mark his return to the Jets, just in time for their season opener against Baltimore on Monday.

"It was a good feeling," Revis said of the reception.

Because of his ability, Revis wanted a lucrative contract extension, and had made that known since the spring. The deal was agreed to in principle late Sunday night and announced by the Jets early Monday morning. Revis didn't practice Monday, but is expected to do so today against the Jets continue to prepare for the Ravens. Revis is "definitely playing" Monday night, coach Rex Ryan said.

"I'm happy it's over with and I can go play football now," said an unshaven Revis, wearing a black shirt with the words "So Loco Fresh."

Revis added that the process "humbled me. ... I didn't know my future. I didn't know where I was going to end up. ... I want to be a Jet. I want to be here. I don't want to go to any other organization."

--Revis' ambition was to be the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL, and this contract accomplishes that for at least the next two seasons. According to profootballtalk.com, Revis will make a total of $32.5 million over the next two seasons, with bonus money included. That's an average of $16.25 million, more than Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha ($16.142 million).

Neil Schwartz, one of Revis' agents, indicated that there is language in the contract that would mitigate against Revis holding out all over again two years from now, and called the current contract a "bridge" to another contract in the future.

"Both sides want Darrelle to be a Jet for life," Schwartz said.

Schwartz said that negotiations had been going on recently. However, what really shifted the talks into overdrive, apparently, was a Saturday visit to Revis and his family in south Florida by Ryan and owner Woody Johnson.

"Rex and Darrelle have a special relationship," said Jon Feinsod, Revis' other agent.

Ryan tried to deflect credit, saying, "with Woody going down, I certainly think it helped because I don't know how many owners would do that. Obviously, Woody recognizes how important Darrelle is to this football team."

--FB Tony Richardson, released Sunday by the Jets, will be re-signed by the team, coach Rex Ryan said Monday. Richardson will return to practice. Ryan indicated that the Jets had to release someone Sunday to get down to the 53-man roster limit after they picked up three players on waivers, because they also hoped they soon would be getting holdout cornerback Darrelle Revis back into the fold.

"The thing is, we felt pretty confident we could get T-Rich back," Ryan said, "but there's still the possibility that somebody gets him and convinces him (to go to another team). ... I felt confident that we could get Tony back, at some point. That point is 24 hours later."

Richardson's locker hadn't been cleaned out Monday, providing more evidence that a return was imminent.

"It was jaw dropping. I couldn't believe it," tight end Dustin Keller said before knowing that Richardson definitely was returning. "He's our top veteran on offense. He's been around the block for sure and been through every scenario you could possibly think of."

--With Revis back, Antonio Cromartie will move back to right cornerback. He had been starting at Revis' left corner slot. Rookie Kyle Wilson, who had been starting at right corner, will slide back to originally-planned role, covering slot receivers in the Jets' nickel packages. Rookie cornerback Brian Jackson was waived.

"There was a positive out of Darrelle not being here," Ryan said, "and that was getting Kyle ready to go and getting Cromartie up to where he could play left corner and right corner and feel good about" both.

--As they were when rosters were being built in the offseason, the Jets remained active up to and after the deadline to cut final regular-season rosters to 53 players.

On Sunday, the Jets plucked WR Patrick Turner off waivers. He's a big receiver who will replace David Clowney, the player waived to create a spot for Turner. Turner had begun to show some promise in Miami but the Dolphins went with two other young receivers who should be able to help on special teams.

Along with Clowney, the Jets waived RB Tony Richardson and RB Chauncey Washington.

They claimed offensive tackle Patrick Brown, an undrafted free agent in 2009 who had 50 starts with UCF and was on the Patriots' practice squad before signing with the Vikings, where he finished the season.

DT Marcus Dixon was also claimed. He had been in Dallas.

--The Jets waived reserve QB Kevin O'Connell on Tuesday, which made fifth-year pro Kellen Clemens the winner of the battle for the No. 3 quarterback spot.

Clemens, in his fifth season, signed a $1.176 million tender as a restricted free agent, but admitted signing a new one-year contract Tuesday morning with the Jets in which he took a pay cut. The veteran minimum salary for a player of Clemens' NFL experience is $635,000.

"I feel good with where I'm at," said Clemens.

"The only way Kellen Clemens was not going to be on this team was if somebody was going to give him a chance to be a starting quarterback," coach Rex Ryan said. "That's the way the roster thing was. That's the truth. Well, that would be a way, obviously, that he would be cut if he doesn't take it. Absolutely, because you can't have all of your quarterbacks at X-amount of dollars."

Ryan said O'Connell was waived because the Jets are beginning to install their game plan for the season opener against Baltimore on Sept. 13 and "we don't need that information going out. It also gives him an opportunity because there are some teams looking for a quarterback."

--Mark Sanchez, offensive coordinator? Well, maybe for a little while Thursday, as Ryan said he wants the second-year quarterback to call some of the plays against the Eagles in the preseason finale. Sanchez and most of the first-stringers won't play.

"I'm hoping that he sees the big picture," said Ryan, who noted that he used to let linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed do that on defense in preseason finales when Ryan was Baltimore's defensive coordinator.

"I do think you can get a lot out of it. I will say this, after that first experience that Ed (Reed) and Ray (Lewis) had, I think they had a bigger appreciation of what you do as a coach. The other thing is the next year they couldn't wait for the same opportunity."

--Ryan said that LB Calvin Pace's foot surgery was "really successful" and that he hasn't given up hope of him playing in the season's second game. Pace was hurt last week when Washington backup T Stephon Heyer caught Pace's right foot with his helmet while trying to execute a cut block.

--Unlike most accomplished NFL veterans, WR Santonio Holmes actually was looking forward to the last preseason game.

That's because it would be his last chance to play in a game until Oct. 11, when the Jets host Minnesota on Monday night. By then, Holmes will have finished serving a four-game suspension imposed by the NFL for violating its substance-abuse policy.

"It's going to be fun," he said of the Philly game Monday after practice. "I hope I can get about 20 catches out there (and) just have some fun, knowing I'm about to exit and be gone for four games.

"I've just got to take it for what it is," the fifth-year pro said of the enforced layoff. "I can't think about it. It's only going to probably set me back if I continue to worry about it. (I have to) go home, do what I'm supposed to do and come back with the right focus. And the team will understand where I was, what I was doing, how I approached it (and) how I'm ready to take on this role" in October.

BY THE NUMBERS
9 and 0 -- The first number is the amount of Pro Bowls former Jet Alan Faneca has made. The second number is the amount of total NFL starts made by his potential replacements, Matt Slauson and Vladimir Ducasse.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think that will just depend on my continued growth and maturation." -- QB Mark Sanchez on how much the Jets' offense can improve in 2010.

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