The Darius Slay trade: Our Eagles reporters weigh in

The Eagles on Thursday acquired cornerback Darius Slay in a trade with the Detroit Lions and gave him a three-year, $50 million contract extension.

Here is how The Inquirer’s Eagles beat writers see that move:

I can’t imagine giving thumbs down to this trade. I guess it’s possible that Slay, who turned 29 in January, is nearing the downside, and the Lions saw that. But really, we’re talking about the Lions here. Slay is a three-time Pro Bowl corner. The Eagles, who went into free agency thinking they were going to get Byron Jones, needed to make a big move. This was the only big move left on the board.

Third-and-firth-round picks, in a draft in which the Eagles held multiple picks in those rounds and still have eight remaining? Not a bad price at all. Scheme fit might be a problem, given that Slay has made his name as a press corner, but Jim Schwartz was the Lions’ head coach when they drafted Slay, in 2013, so presumably he knows how to use the guy.

Is the secondary definitely better now than in 2019? Without Malcolm Jenkins, it’s still hard to say that. But this sure looks like the best move the Eagles have made at corner since they signed Asante Samuel in 2008. Slay is said to be a leader and a strong voice in the locker room.

The Eagles got better at cornerback with the trade for Slay. Of course, they could have acquired one of about 100 corners and it would have been an upgrade over last season’s unit. Slay isn’t just some stopgap, however. He’s arguably one of the best at his trade in the NFL. He should make Jim Schwartz’s defense better.

But the Eagles had to forfeit two draft picks before even making him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. They had to surrender only third- (No. 85 overall) and fifth-round (No. 166) selections to get Slay, but I thought that Howie Roseman was committed to holding onto his picks and to getting younger. He still has eight picks, and you could argue that he wasn’t likely to find anyone as talented at those slots anyway, but the Eagles haven’t done well with fewer choices over the last several drafts. At some point, you have to hit on your draft picks (read: cheaper labor) in terms of salary-cap allocation.

Slay’s deal is significant. He signed a three-year, $50 million extension with $30 million guaranteed. He comes with one year, $10.5 million left on his deal with the Lions, so we’re talking about a $40.5 million guarantee. But it’s less than the Eagles would have paid for Byron Jones, who signed a five-year, $82.5 million contract with $57 million guaranteed with the Dolphins.

Jones is about a year and half younger than Slay, though. He could be viewed as an ascending talent (although almost no one would say he’s been better than Slay). Why couldn’t the Eagles have just upped the ante to Jones rather than sacrifice picks for the older Slay? Maybe Jones was committed to leaving the NFC East or preferred the tax-free benefits of playing in Miami. He also got $40 million guaranteed in the first two years of his deal.

But the Eagles clearly prioritized getting Jones for a reason. Slay was the backup plan. It’s not a bad one, but he’ll be 30, 31, and 32 when the extension years kick in. And there aren’t many cornerbacks who maintain their level of play into their 30s.

Slay has already shown signs of decline. He had a shaky 2019 by most estimations. But he was also hampered by an early-season hamstring injury and might have let his contract situation — and playing for a perennial loser — affect his play. But he wasn’t as good in 2018 as he was from 2015 to ’17, either.

The Eagles have been down this road before. It wouldn’t be fair to hold past mistakes — Nnamdi Asomugha, Byron Maxwell, Bradley Fletcher, Ronald Darby, et al — against Slay. He is considered to be, from most angles, a standout individual who goes about his work in a professional way and will bring some of the leadership that left the locker room when safety Malcolm Jenkins was released and joined the Saints.

But I’m skeptical about the Eagles’ once again covering for past mistakes at cornerback with another on-the-older-end veteran, while sacrificing significant capital, when they have other needs, none greater than at wide receiver. Slay should bring some stability to corner, but will he be good enough to warrant the compensation?

If Slay can return to form, the Eagles bought low on a player who usually wouldn’t be available for the price they paid.

When you consider the salary Slay will make over the next four years in addition to the third- and fifth-round picks they gave up to get the corner, the price was high. Consider it the cost of missing out on Byron Jones in free agency.

Jones is coming off a better season, but Slay has a much longer track record as a versatile corner capable of making things difficult on No. 1 receivers. Slay has also been much better at generating turnovers than Jones. Slay had 13 interceptions in the last three seasons. Jones had one. Interceptions aren’t always the best indicator of cornerback production, but the difference is still noteworthy.

Jones hit free agency for a reason, but a player as good as Slay was before last season wouldn’t likely make it to the open market without being franchise-tagged. About last year’s regression, it could be explained by a few things:

It could have been a hamstring injury, or a result of following some of the NFL’s best wideouts in press man coverage. Maybe it was just an anomaly altogether. People who know a lot more about the intricacies of covering receivers in the league — as in, actual NFL cornerbacks — say that Slay is still one of the best there is. Take that for what you will.

Even if he isn’t, though, he’s going to be a massive upgrade for the Eagles secondary. Having even an above-average player at one of the corner positions will be a change from the last few years. Avonte Maddox, Cre’Von LeBlanc, or maybe even Sidney Jones will have an easier time now with No. 1 receivers taken care of by Slay.

It’s a high-risk, high-reward move to invest such a big contract in a player coming off a steep regression, but it was a necessary move for a front office that struggles to find cornerback talent in the draft.

You certainly can make the argument that Byron Jones is a slightly better cornerback than Darius Slay right now, and that the Eagles would’ve been better served outbidding the Dolphins for the 27-year-old Jones rather than giving up third- and fifth-round picks for the 29-year-old Slay.

If you looked strictly at, say, the 2019 grades from Pro Football Focus, which had Jones 10th among the league’s corners and Slay 53rd, you’d agree with that.

But Slay traveled with the opponent’s best wideout nearly every play of every game, and Jones did not. And Slay played on a defense with a sickly pass rush — just 28 sacks despite the second-most opponent pass attempts in the league — which forced him to stay with receivers a lot longer than Jones had to in Dallas.

Slay might not be as good an all-around athlete as Jones, but he’s pretty fast — he ran a 4.36 40 coming out of Mississippi State — and he has much better ball skills than Jones, and the Eagles badly need that after finishing 22nd and 25th in the league in interceptions the last two years.

If you want to see what kind of player the Eagles are getting in Slay, go to NFL Game Pass and watch the replay of the Lions’ 13-10 Week 2 win over the Chargers. Slay spent the entire game covering the Chargers’ Keenan Allen. Allen was targeted 15 times by Philip Rivers. He caught eight passes for 98 yards but had no touchdowns. Slay intercepted a pass for Allen in the end zone with a minute left to preserve the win.

By backing out of the Jones bidding, the Eagles were able to address two critical areas rather than one. They improved their pass rush with the addition of defensive tackle Javon Hargrave and got better at corner by trading for Slay and signing him to a much saner contract than the one the Dolphins gave Jones.