The Eagles have given Darius Slay permission to find a trade partner, according to a report from ESPN on Friday.
The Philadelphia Eagles have allowed Darius Slay's agent Drew Rosenhaus to seek a trade, per sources. The Eagles are still hopeful to find a solution where Slay remains an Eagle.
— Dianna Russini 🏈 (@diannaESPN) March 10, 2023
The 32-year-old cornerback is entering the final year of his contract and will count for $26 million against next year’s salary cap unless the two sides can either agree on a renegotiated deal or find a team interested in trading for him.
The issue has to do with Slay’s contract past 2023. At 32, the veteran is about to enter the final year of his contract and is set to count for $26 million against the 2023 salary cap for the Eagles. The organization would like to lower that number and Slay wants more than a lame-duck walk year with has created the loggerheads.
A five-time Pro Bowl cornerback, Slay has a better first half in the 2022 season than his second half and it seems like the Eagles are hesitant to offer an extension at similar money so permission was given to Drew Rosenhaus to see what the market might be for Slay outside of Philadelphia.
Slay, a team leader who was voted a team captain for the first time in his career in 2022. himself did not request a trade, according to an NFL source, and there is still hope on both sides that the team captain will remain in Philadelphia next season.
Slay did confirm he was seeking an extension with the Eagles when on the Montgomery and Co. Podcast last week.
“Of course, I want an extension with the Eagles,” Slay said. “I love the Eagles. They took another chance on me trading for me, and I panned out very well of course. But yeah, I love that money, so of course I’m going to be talking about it this offseason. That’s everyone, that’s what we all do when we’ve got one year left on our deal. We try to get the extension because it makes the cap low and then you get to start building.”
Trading Slay immediately doesn’t make much sense for the Eagles from a cap perspective.
According to Overthecap.com, the Eagles would gain just $3.7 million in cap space by dealing Slay before June 1. A post-June trade would ramp that up to $12.3M with $5.5 being eaten up in 2024. Conversely, converting his base salary into a signing or roster bonus would clear about $17.5 million in space for the short term so the issues are solely about the potential extension and how high Philadelphia wants to go with an aging player.
Presumably, if Rosenhaus is able to drum up interest elsewhere it would force the Eagles’ hand on a contract extension.
“Slay is one of the best cornerbacks in football, Slay is one of the few legitimate No. 1 cornerbacks.”
– @JFMcMullen pic.twitter.com/o7sKEucq4n
— JAKIB Sports (@JAKIBSports) March 10, 2023
