Eagles, Darius Slay extension could surprisingly create financial advantage

It’s almost maddening when you think about the exorbitant amounts of money that the best NFL athletes in the game like Darius Slay are making these days. As we used to say, it’s better to congratulate than hate, but how many of you sit at home and think about how life would be different had you made some different life choices?

How many of you wish that you had run a few more suicide drills? What if you would have worked through a couple more snakes? What if you pushed yourself past your comfort level in those ultra-competitive junior high school years or gave it your all at the prep or collegiate level?

As a matter of fact, forget about that. Here’s something else to think about. How much do you think someone like Reggie White would be worth these days? He, once upon a time, broke the bank when he signed a four-year, worth $17 million dollar deal to leave the City of Brotherly Love and sign with the Green Bay Packers.

Come on! The Philadelphia Eagles couldn’t have beaten that offer? Of, that’s right. Nevermind… Those were the Norman Braman years. Jeffrey Lurie didn’t arrive until 1994.

The Eagles have some incentive to extend Darius Slay soon.

Some of the legends of the game would, no doubt, clean up in the modern era of free agency. The game’s newer stars and legends in the making are definitely making their coins, and you have to be proud of them for that. Take Darius Slay for instance.

After the Birds sent third-round and fifth-round draft selections in the 2020 NFL Draft to the Detroit Lions to acquire his services, they, on the next day, inked him to a three-year deal that was worth $50 million with $30 million guaranteed.

In March of 2021, they restructured said deal, and that created about $9.14 million in cap space. Slay didn’t take a pay cut. Philly did what Howie Roseman is famous for, kicking the can down the road.

Slay was among five Eagles that Inside The Iggles mentioned when naming a few players whose extensions shouldn’t shock you if they occur in 2022. It should also be mentioned that a one or two-year extension for Big Play would create or save the Eagles somewhere around $12.3 million in cap space. That sounds like a winner for us.

Darius Slay turns 32 years old on New Year’s day in 2023. That’s enough to be labeled as a senior citizen in the National Football League, but for one of the Eagles’ best players on defense, one that made the Pro Bowl this season, we’re going to assume that he has a few years left.

This is something that the Birds might want to give some serious consideration to as they’re handing out extensions moving forward.