Revis had double the tackles & people avoided him like the plague:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/team/stats/_/name/nyj/new-york-jets
After game one, Whitner averages 3.75 tackles a game. That is not a solid year, nor does it deserve a top dollar return. This is my opinion as well, so you'll have a hard time debating me he worked hard during great times. Our team sucked & the defense was ran over, in all aspects. We didn't draft all this defensive help because of our depth or talent & if they planned on resigning Whitner for top dollar, they might have approached him during the season being so much under the cap.
He gets credit for being better than the rest of the terrible defense, you don't pay big for that.