Don’t rule out Darius Slay seeing a few snaps in the Eagles offense

How about Darius Slay? Is he having a monstrous year or what? Sometimes, things don’t go according to plan and you can still luck up and end up with something better. During the 2020 offseason, two highly-touted cornerbacks hit the open market in free agency, Byron Jones and James Bradberry. The Philadelphia Eagles weren’t able to acquire either one of them.

Jones wound up in South Beach with the Miami Dolphins. Bradberry joined the hated New York Giants, and for a fan base that knew their team was desperate for help in the secondary, that was unacceptable.

Eagles executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman, a man whose approval rating always seems to be in question, did what any G.M. would have done in that situation. He acted as most men have acted when they tick off a significant other. Howie planned a makeup date.

The plan was simple. On March 20th of 2020, he traded a third-round and fifth-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Detroit Lions to acquire Darius Slay then signed Slay to a shiny new three-year deal the next day that was worth $50 million with $30 million guaranteed.

2020 wasn’t Slay’s best year, but he’s righted the ship, and in Philly’s first 11 games of the 2021 schedule, he’s added 39 total tackles, five pass breakups, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and three defensive TDs to his NFL resume. A Pro Bowl nod is certain (or at least it should be).

Might the Eagles experiment and create a few plays for Darius Slay on offense?

Recently, in his most recent sit-down with the Philly media (on the Wednesday leading up to Philadelphia’s Week 11 game versus the New Orleans Saints), the man known as Big Play talked about everything from his bond with DeVonta Smith to his belief that he could “easily” run a 4.38 40-yard dash while back-peddling.

The jury is still out on whether that’s true or not, but here’s what we can say. Magic happens when he has the ball in his hands. Might the Eagles scheme a few plays with Slay lining up with the offense? Listening to head coach Nick Sirianni’s Monday afternoon presser makes one believe that he hasn’t ruled it out.

Here’s a quote:

"Man, he’s really good with the football in his hands. (When) he gets that football in his hands, he can go, and so that makes me think maybe I (have to) give him a couple of reps on offense and give him some touches."

We’d love to tell you that Nick is kidding, but is he? Haven’t we learned that nothing is impossible with this guy?

Slay has told us before that he doesn’t understand why his coaches haven’t trusted him in the past to return punts. His three scores ON DEFENSE so far this season equals the touchdown total of Boston Scott and Jordan Howard (both have three). He’s also reached the end zone more often than Miles Sanders (zero), Quez Watkins (zero), Dallas Goedert (twice), and Jalen Reagor (two).

Maybe we shouldn’t ask ourselves whether or not this is a possibility. Maybe we should be asking ourselves why this hasn’t happened yet.