Darius Slay was traded from Detroit for one reason: money. Slay made no secret of his desire to get paid more than he was already making on his 4-year, $48 million contract he signed with the Lions in 2017. The Lions regime of GM Bob Quinn and head coach Matt Patricia was not going to give into his demands.
Slay’s overriding desire to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL worked out for him, just not with Detroit. The Lions traded the Pro Bowler to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday morning, just hours after he prodded them to make a move.
The Eagles sent a 3rd round pick (No. 85 overall) and a 5th-rounder (tbd, the Eagles have multiple) to the Lions to acquire Slay. The deal was contingent on Slay agreeing to a new contract, and that quickly resolved itself.
Slay's agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed the corner gets a three-year, $50 million extension from the Eagles as part of this deal.
— Justin Rogers (@Justin_Rogers) March 19, 2020
The $16.75 million per year average leapfrogs Byron Jones in Miami to make Slay the highest-paid CB in the NFL. Slay’s old contract ranked 14th, tied with Bradley Roby’s new deal.
The Lions balked at paying Slay for two reasons. First, his age. He’s now 29, and Detroit wasn’t willing to commit that sort of money to a player past his athletic prime. Secondly, he’s coming off his worst season since his rookie year and that arrow might not point back up again. It’s a risk the Lions were unwilling to take.
The Eagles did. Time will tell if their expensive gamble pays off.