Eagles may be looking to move on from Darius Slay, sign Brandon Graham to 1 year deal

When this was written, it was not even lunchtime and it was already a very busy day in Philadelphia sports.

There have been some whispers that the Eagles might be looking to move on from Pro Bowl Cornerback Darius Slay. According to Dianna Russini of ESPN, the Eagles have allowed Slay’s agent Drew Rosenhaus to seek a trade. She also says that the Eagles are hopeful that Slay will remain an Eagle.

Slay is in the final year of his contract and is on the books for $17 million for this upcoming season. According to John Clark of NBC, Slay wants a new deal. The Eagles want to keep Slay, but only at a lower cap number. Clark says that the two sides disagree on money which has led to them allowing him to seek a trade. He also mentions that the Eagles hope he stays.

Slay, who will play next season at age 32, was named to the Pro Bowl last season. The Eagles have had more than lackluster corners in years past, and Slay has been one of the best corners the franchise has had in the last 20 years. Many fans became frustrated with Slay towards the end of the season as they believed his play declined, but he was the number one corner on the number one passing defense in the NFL. I will not say that trading Slay is a mistake, but it is hard to deny the secondary will be worse without him.

Slay is known to be an outspoken player. He is never shy to speak his mind and it has started to rub some fans the wrong way. After the infamous 3rd and 30 play against Dallas, he blamed backup corner, Josiah Scott. After the Super Bowl, he talked on his podcast about how the secondary did its job. As someone with the captain’s C on his chest he should be taking accountability instead of throwing around blame. Since this news has come out, Slay has been active on Twitter engaging with players around the league trying to convince him to come to their team. Some fans have shown little backlash to a potential deal, and this could be a part of the reason why.

In some positive news, the Eagles are reportedly close to a 1-year contract with Brandon Graham.

According to Josina Anderson Graham told her “I haven’t officially signed yet, but it is pretty much done. Im coming back. It wasn’t about the money. I love Philly. I don’t want to miss a championship with Jalen. Jalen is the man. I just told my agent to make it happen.”

The deal is worth up to about $6 million.

This is great news for the Eagles as Graham is a great person, but is also still a very productive player. Coming off a torn Achilles in 2021, Graham tuned in the best season of his career in 2022. He achieved double-digit sacks for the first time in his career with 11, while also forcing 2 forced fumbles. Graham is a leader in the locker room, while also being a great person off the field. On a defense that will most likely be very young, there’s no one better for them to learn under than BG.