The Eagles have given cornerback Darius Slay permission to seek a trade, ESPN’s Dianna Russini reports. According to Russini, Philadelphia still hopes they can find common ground with Slay to keep him on the team.
Despite the Eagles’ permission, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports Slay did not ask for a trade himself. Instead, this just appears to be the latest in the team’s negotiations in a potential contract restructure.
Philadelphia traded for Slay ahead of the 2020 season, and the cornerback has been a huge part of the team’s rebuild over the past three seasons. Since going from the Lions to the Eagles, Slay has played in 48 games and has totaled 166 total touchdowns and seven interceptions, which has led to two Pro Bowl appearances.
Slay is entering the final year of his original three-year extension with the Eagles, and is set to make a $17 million base salary. This year, his cap hit is over $26 million, and his dead cap hit would be over $21 million if the Eagles were to cut or trade him before June 1. However, if they were to cut or trade Slay after June 1, the dead cap hit reduces to over $8 million.
Therefore, it is likely that Philadelphia would prefer to restructure Slay’s deal to reduce his cap hit but still keep him so they don’t have to replace his production. The Eagles are currently set to enter the offseason with just over $7 million in cap space.
