The Darius Slay Era In Philadelphia Has Come To An End, Will Be Released By Eagles Today
Tim Nwachukwu. Getty Images.Slay was very fun to watch. It's very easy to root for a guy like that. He's charismatic, funny, and had a damn good year on the field. He brought a ton of swagger back to an Eagles defense that had lacked it over the past few seasons. Slay was a fan favorite for a reason.
But there are probably more reasons why you wouldn't want to pay a 32-year-old cornerback a fuck ton of money when you're looking to keep a Super Bowl contending roster together for the next 5 or so years. You can love Slay all you want, it doesn't change the fact that we've already seen the best Slay we'll ever see.
I would argue at this exact moment in time, Howie Roseman is better at doing business than Darius Slay is at playing cornerback. The advantage is razor thin, no doubt about it. I'd say that Slay is probably a top 5 CB in the league, but Howie is a top 1 GM. And Howie Roseman's window for being the best executive in the league is a lot longer than Slay's ability to remain a top 5 CB. So if this came down to a business decision, then I have to ride with Howie on this one. Especially when he already locked Bradberry in to a 3-year deal at a shockingly reasonable value.
I know there are probably some Eagles fans freaking out right now, but you need to understand the issues the Eagles are having at the moment are fantastic issues to have. The only reason the Eagles are losing so many key contributors from last season is because they have a quarterback who can get you to the Super Bowl in any given year. It's literally the most important thing any team can have in the NFL. If you don't have that guy, then there's literally no hope for your season. The Eagles have that in Jalen Hurts. You can plug somebody else in for Darius Slay and hope to get similar results. You can plug somebody else in for Javon Hargrave and hope to get similar results.
You can't just plug anybody in for Jalen Hurts and expect to get anything even close to similar results. If you love Slay and you love Javon Hargrave so much, then let's see how much you actually love those dudes when you have Gardner Minshew as your starting QB for the entire season.
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Trust in Howie. Trust in Jalen. Everybody just calm down and remember that the Eagles are in a better situation than like 27 other teams right now.