By Paul Bowman, Sports Talk Philly Editor 
With many fans upset that Howie Roseman is doing nothing despite the fact that free agency has just begun, word broke last night that the Eagles had essentially agreed to a deal with Lions shutdown corner Darius Slay.
ESPN’s Josina Anderson reported that the deal was pending the Eagles working out a contract extension with Slay.
I'm told there are ongoing discussions right now regarding the framework of a 3-year extension as part of a trade that would send CB Darius Slay to the #Eagles, per source.
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 19, 2020
The deal would give the Eagles a top cornerback in his age 29 season.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter confirmed that an extension had been agreed to Thursday morning and the Eagles would send a third and fifth-round pick to the Lions for the corner.
Eagles are trading a third- and fifth-round pick in 2020 draft to Detroit for Darius Slay, per source. https://t.co/o2LPCtHK0M
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 19, 2020
That means the Eagles will still have eight draft picks for the upcoming draft, including their top two picks.
Slay, in his seven seasons, has managed 104 passes defensed and 19 interceptions.
Slay has been to the last three Pro Bowls, appeared on the last two NFL Top 100 lists and was named a first team All-Pro in 2017, all while travelling with the opponent’s top receiver each game.
He has 82 pass breakups over the last five seasons, which leads the NFL.
At this point, the Eagles figure to play Slay and one of Avonte Maddox or Sidney Jones outside with Cre’Von LeBlanc in the slot, but the team could very well draft another corner to start or sign a remaining free agent like Prince Amukamara to man the role opposite Slay.
A secondary that seemed like nothing just a few hours ago now looks to be very solid with any further additions to either safety or corner.
The team will also benefit from the versatility of players like Mills and Maddox moving between corner and safety.
The deal is for three years and $50 million with $30 million guaranteed, per Schefter, so the Eagles will be giving him the highest AAV for a corner but will be guaranteeing less of it (with Byron Jones getting $40 in his first two seasons).
Slay is coming off a down year where he suffered a Hamstring injury and still held opposing QBs to just an 81.6 passer rating.
If "all time bad season" is this type of stats:
– 2TDs allowed over 14 games
– 6.8 Tgts/allowed, 3.8 rec/allowed per game
– 54.2 yards allowed per game = 14.3 yards per reception/7.9 yards per targetSign me up! We got burned on individual plays for more then that! #Eagles pic.twitter.com/P3YcKmEv51
— Connor Donald (@connorten) March 19, 2020
Eagles fans now have a top-tier corner for the first time in a long time.
