Darius Slay clarifies report about potential trade

Friday’s report that the Philadelphia Eagles gave cornerback Darius Slay permission to seek a trade left some fans befuddled. On Saturday, the cornerback took to his podcast to try to clear up some of the speculation.

Slay said on his “Big Play Slay” podcast that he had not asked for a trade and that he understood the Eagles’ tactics, adding that there were no hard feelings on either side.

“I just want my fans to know, Slay did not ask to be traded,” Slay said, via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. “But this is part of the business. There’s no bad blood against neither one of us, me or Howie (Roseman). None of that. We all good. Great understanding, just the business part of it. A lot of guys go up for trade, you know, it got a lot of money involved in this situation. It’s nothing big. Nothing too serious, man. It’s part of the business.”

Money is essentially the only big issue here. Slay is carrying a cap number of over $26 million for 2023, which is a problem for an Eagles team that sits just $6.6 million under the cap with free agency looming. Presumably, the Eagles wanted to re-negotiate, and Slay has not been able to come to an agreement with them.

The initial report did say the Eagles would prefer to have Slay back. Whether that happens may ultimately come down to how much money he is willing to give up.