Top 25 Eagles Ranked: Darius Slay Locks Down No. 9

Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay remains one of the NFL's best despite his advancing age.

PHILADELPHIA - You can make a strong argument that Darius Slay was so good in the first half of the 2022 season for the Philadelphia Eagles, it created an unrealistic standard that obfuscated a run-of-the-mill regression to the mean in the second half of what was a Super Bowl run for the Birds.

The full scope of the campaign helped Slay land the No. 9 spot in the ranking of the top 25 Eagles players entering training camp by SI.com's Eagles Today.

That second half, along with Slay’s advancing age (he turned 32 on New Year’s Day) and contract status, had the Eagles seriously debating the “it’s better to give up on a player a year early than a year late” sentiment that has become the standard in professional sports.

Coming off an NFC championship season with three decisions to make on high-profile members of one of the NFL’s best secondaries, the belief was that GM Howie Roseman could get two of the three back for the 2023 season.

That belief held true but only after every part of the equation was explored.

Slay was the lone member of the trio that also included fellow Pro Bowl CB James Brandberry and NFL interception co-leader C.J. Gardner-Johnson. The widely-help belief entering free agency was that Slay would return because he was under contract with the decision coming down to Gardner-Johnson vs. Bradberry.

However, Slay’s cap number on the final year of his contract was not tenable for the organization, and veteran players don’t like heading into lame-duck years with no guarantees so something has to be worked out which proved to be difficult.

The betting favorite at first was Slay being back on an amended deal and the younger CJGJ returning because he was likely to be less expensive than Bradberry. Ultimately, Gardner-Johnson overplayed his hand and Bradberry accepted less money to come back to Philadelphia on a three-year deal.

At one point Slay and his wife said goodbye to Philadelphia on social media and planned on a move down I-95 to Baltimore before Roseman pulled the plug on CJGJ negotiations and worked out an 11th-hour deal to rescue the relationship with Slay, a team captain and popular member of the locker room.

Now it’s back to whether or not Slay, a five-time Pro Bowl selection, can continue to perform at the highest level. Last season Slay played all 20 games through Super Bowl LVII and participated in 91 percent of the team's defensive snaps in the regular season and 94 percent in the postseason.

He finished the 14-3 regular season with 55 tackles, three interceptions, and one of the best CB games you will ever see when he locked down perhaps the league's best receiver, Justin Jefferson of Minnesota.

Eagles Today beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen put together their own top 25 players independent of each other’s rankings and then assigned point values to the rankings, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.

The highest ranking from either reporter breaks any ties in the ballot.

Slay was No. 9 on lists by both McMullen and Kracz so the thought process on where he stands was very consistent.

So far, the rankings have shaken out this way:

No. 25 - Kenny Gainwell

No. 24 - Nicholas Morrow

No. 23 - Reed Blankenship

No. 22 - Terrell Edmunds

No. 21 - Jake Elliott

No. 20 – Nakobe Dean

No. 19 – Jordan Davis

No. 18 - Jalen Carter

No. 17 - D’Andre Swift

No. 16 - Milton Williams

No. 15 - Fletcher Cox

No. 14 - Avonte Maddox

No. 13 - Brandon Graham

No. 12 - James Bradberry

No. 11 - Landon Dickerson

No. 10 - Jordan Mailata

No. 9 - Darius Slay

A three-time Pro Bowl selection in Detroit, Slay was dealt to the Eagles in March of 2020 for third- and fifth-round draft picks in the 2020 draft and immediately signed a three-year, $50 million extension.

Over his first three seasons with the Eagles, Saly has made two Pro Bowls (2021 and 2022) and has continued to be one of the best cover cornerbacks in the NFL. He has been graded a top-10 cornerback by Pro Football Focus on two occasions, top 20 four times, and top 25 on six occasions, including No. 21 of 118 last season outpacing Bradberry, who was No. 27.

One interesting aspect of the Eagles' 2023 season to keep an eye on is the addition of Matt Patricia as a senior defensive assistant. Patricia was the head coach in Detroit when Slay was dealt and the two did not have the best relationship.

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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen