Eagles cornerback Darius Slay‘s current focus is winning the primary Super Bowl of his profession, but he has already thought of his plans for the 2025 season and beyond.
The 12-year veteran would really like to play another season before retiring, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, and he’d prefer to complete his profession in Philadelphia.
“Next 12 months will most definitely be my last,” said Slay during Super Bowl media availability. “I’d love for it to be with the Philadelphia Eagles.”
The eight-time Pro Bowler remains to be playing at a high level despite his age, though 2024 was his first interception-less season since his 2013 rookie 12 months. He has missed eight games because of injury during the last two seasons, including a four-game absence in 2023 because of knee surgery. By the point the 2025 season ends, Slay will likely be 35 years old, making retirement a natural next step.
Slay’s comments indicate that a return to Philadelphia next season shouldn’t be a certainty, though his contract would make it difficult to maneuver on. After renegotiating his deal in 2023, his 2025 cap hit is available in slightly below $13.8MM, per OverTheCap, a reasonable price for a starting boundary corner. A release before the brand new league 12 months would force the Eagles to account for $22.7MM as a dead cap hit in 2025, a difficult proposition considering their cap situation and wish to sign key pending free agents like Zack Baun. A post-June 1 release would allow the Eagles to spread Slay’s dead cap hits between 2025 and 2026, but they’d even have to select up his $16.1MM option bonus and account for it as dead money.
Consequently, one of the best option for each side appears to be Slay playing out his contract in Philadelphia as he desires. The Eagles could then restructure his deal to permit for a post-June 1 retirement designation, because the Rams did for Aaron Donald to opened up his remaining dead money.
