PHILADELPHIA — The Eagles have allowed cornerback Darius Slay‘s agent Drew Rosenhaus to seek a trade, sources tell ESPN’s Dianna Russini.
Slay did not ask to be traded, the sources added, and the Eagles are still hoping to find a solution where Slay remains an Eagle.
Slay, 32, is entering the final year of his three-year, $50 million deal. He is slated to make a base salary of $17 million in 2023 with a cap hit of over $26 million, per Spotrac.
“Of course I want an extension with the Eagles. 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,” Slay said recently on the “Montgomery & Co.” podcast. “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 around the team because once you’re cap’s too high, you can’t add more players.
“So with me, with my cap that high, I’m sure they probably want to get it down, and the best way to get it down is to give me some money.”
The Eagles acquired Slay from the Detroit Lions in 2020 in exchange for a third- and a fifth-round pick. He has made the Pro Bowl each of the past two years, and had three interceptions and 14 passes defensed this past season.
He was a key part of a defense that led the league in pass defense (179.8 yards per game), helping Philadelphia to a 14-3 regular season mark en route to an appearance in Super Bowl LVII.
The Eagles will have a completely new look on defense in 2023. They have a number of contributors set to become free agents, including cornerback James Bradberry; defensive linemen Javon Hargrave, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham; and safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.