The Jets need to fix their secondary, and one of the best cornerbacks in the league is on the trade block.
The Lions have talked to “multiple teams” about trading cornerback Darius Slay, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Slay, coming off his third consecutive Pro Bowl, has been looking for a new contract since the beginning of the 2019 season. Now he may finally get his wish as the Lions begin to shop him.
Despite his skill, the Jets shouldn’t be looking to trade for Slay. It would be a mistake for general manager Joe Douglas to give up draft capital and sign Slay to a big extension considering his age and the other holes on the roster.
For one, the Jets can’t afford to part with any picks and don’t have many players worth trading. They have eight picks in the 2020 draft, and it’ll likely take at least their fifth-round pick (No. 141 overall) to acquire Slay. The Ravens gave up a fifth-round pick and linebacker Kenny Young for cornerback Marcus Peters in 2019, so the Jets would be looking at that price as a starting point in any talks with Lions.
Considering Slay is two years older than Peters and coming off a down season, there’s a chance the Jets could get a good deal for him, which might not be a bad move. But the problem isn’t so much the trade for Slay as the contract he would command once he joined the Jets.
Slay wants to become the highest-paid cornerback in the league and insinuated as much on Twitter this month. Right now, that title belongs to Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard, who has $15.05 million yearly average salary. Slay will count $13,368,750 against the cap, which puts him slightly above ninth, ahead of Stephon Gilmore. While Slay wants at least $15 million a year, Spotrac values him just under that number – $14.9 million – with a four-year, $59,735,712 deal. That contract is doable, but it’s still a lot of money to give an aging cornerback, even for one of the best in the league.
Slay is still the epitome of a consistent shutdown corner even after turning 29 in January. Slay made the Pro Bowl for his third consecutive season after he allowed a completion rate of only 58.3 percent and a passer rating of 86.9 when targeted, according to Pro Football Focus. Slay can still run step-for-step with the best cornerbacks; he was only burned on 3.4 percent of his assignments and had an average target separation of 1.07 yards. However, he did see his fewest interceptions and pass breakups since 2016 and his age could easily catch up to him, much like Darrelle Revis when he rejoined the Jets in 2015.
Would a player of Slay’s caliber make the Jets secondary better? Theoretically, yes. But the Jets have been down this road before. They signed a 28-year-old Trumaine Johnson to an exorbitant five-year, $72.5 million contract with $45 million in guaranteed money in 2018 and are already looking at releasing him just two years into that deal. Douglas cannot afford to make the same mistake again and give up draft and roster capital in the process for the opportunity to spend more money.
Younger players like Tre’Davious White and Byron Jones will likely set or reset the cornerback contract market this offseason, and both are much younger than Slay. It would be less risky to try and sign a player like Jones for big money or look at cheaper options in free agency like James Bradberry or Jalen Mills. Both are veteran players who wouldn’t command a salary like Jones or Slay and would give Douglas the cap flexibility to shore up other positions of the need. The Jets would be better served going down that route, grabbing talented draft prospects with their eight picks and possibly even re-signing slot cornerback Brian Poole.
Slay is a great cornerback and deserves to be paid like one. The Jets shouldn’t be the team to sign that check, though.