It’s official. And it’s fascinating. Few cornerbacks in Philadelphia Eagles history have walked in and had the impact that Darius Slay has put forth over the last five years with the team. … and even after having been released a few days ago, there was a thought he might come walking back though that Eagles locker room door. Instead, he’s staying in the state … but leaving the conference. Before arriving in a trade during the 2020 offseason, the Eagles had been a historically struggling back-end with failed free agents, draft picks, and trades all crashing out after a couple of seasons. In the five years since Slay has arrived for a third-round pick, though, the Eagles have had the top pass defense in two of those seasons.
Still, the Eagles cut the Pro Bowl cornerback last week in an expected financial move … and now they will see him play in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform. Slay, 34, has talked about wanting to play at least one more year. He will do so now without holding any grudges against the Eagles, with whom he just won a Super Bowl. “It is part of the business, and, nah, I’m not hurt about it,” Slay said of being cut. “I’m not sad about it because this is what I signed up for.
I knew I gave that team everything I had, the organization everything I had. So, it’s always a possibility, though, of your boy coming back. It’s not always throw it in the back, but this time I’m just thankful enough that I could get ahead of free agency if I find me a good destination for myself.
“Teams get younger. Teams want to save cap space because they pay younger guys for their future. And that’s why I said there are no hard feelings.” Philadelphia has plenty of players that can act as replacements for Slay at this point, including a draft pick in Kelee Ringo. So the Eagles’ plan here is understandable. But this amicable split created an opening for the Steelers – and they just stepped up.