Adrian Fedkiw
If the Philadelphia Eagles are going to keep slaying the beast in the NFC East, they needed to find someone who could shut down Amari Cooper.
They just acquired their man.
The Eagles added Slay from the Detroit Lions Thursday for a third and fifth-round selection, then immediately extended and made him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.
Reports: #Eagles have agreed to acquire CB Darius Slay from the Detroit Lions in exchange for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft. pic.twitter.com/BMrXT0TdNq
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) March 19, 2020
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Slay’s agent Drew Rosenhaus confirmed to ESPN that the Eagles signed his client to a three-year extension worth $50 million, with $30 million of it guaranteed. That makes Slay the highest paid cornerback in the NFL in terms of his average annual value, which is $16.6 million.
The deal after the deal: the Eagles and new CB Darius Slay reached agreement on a 3-year, $50 million extension that includes $30 million guaranteed, @RosenhausSports tells ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2020
Highest Average Annual Value (CBs)
1. Darius Slay: $16.6M
2. Byron Jones: $16.5M
3. Xavien Howard: $15.1M
4. James Bradberry: $14.5M
5. Patrick Peterson: $14.01M
I believe Slay and Jones both have outstanding mirroring skills, but Slay undoubtedly has better ball production, logging 19 career interceptions as opposed to Jones’ two.
Cooper has thrashed the Eagles in five career games against them, tallying 98 yards per game and four touchdowns with a 64 percent catch rate on 44 targets. Against Slay in two career games, however, Slay has had the better end of the matchup, limiting Cooper to 21 yards per contest and no touchdowns with a 33 percent catch rate on 12 targets.
.@Lions @Eagles @_bigplayslay23 v the other team’s #1 WR like at @dallascowboys @AmariCooper9 . He lives for the competition. #Birds defense got better today #flyeaglesfly. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/GOhaQbJJpK
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) March 19, 2020
Some other nuggets on Slay, he has the third lowest completion percentage against (51.8%) since 2017, only Stephon Gillmore (49.2) and Marlon Humphrey (49.2) are better. His 82 pass breakups since 2015 are the most in the game.
He thanked the city of Detroit via his Twitter for the love and appreciation he received during his time there.
Detroit! Ya’ll have been so good to me & my family. I’m going to miss all the fans & showing the city love. I appreciate the fans, coaches, staff & City. Nothing but love & respect to y’all. To my Eagles fans, ya boii is READY TO WORK! @MeekMill whats goooood! #Eagles #FlyHigh pic.twitter.com/gnhf1IpmjD
— Darius Slay (@_bigplayslay23) March 19, 2020
Now, if the Eagles can also go get Yannick Ngakoue, who was teasing Seattle Wednesday via his Instagram stories before turning his attention to Philadelphia Thursday.
Yannick Ngakoue posted a pic on his IG story that looks a lot like SeaTac airport 👀 pic.twitter.com/Hk3cEp5bKP
— Curtis Rogers (@AKidFromKent) March 18, 2020
.@YannickNgakoue on his IG story 👀 #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/jbNZHdyICG
— Matthew Lucci (@LucciSportsGuy) March 19, 2020
This free agency period would already be a home run if he’s poached from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Eagles still need some weapons are wide receiver, but it’s an extremely deep wide receiver class, that’s where they can target their woes there.
Check out my video on Slay and my thoughts on Ngakoue if Howie Roseman can finagle a way to pry him free from the Jags.
You can follow Adrian Fedkiw on Twitter (@AdrianFedkiw) and e-mail him at [email protected]. Subscribe to The Bitter Birds on YouTube here.
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