Lions Have Had Recent Talks With Darius Slay’s Agent

Lions GM Bob Quinn said he has had “good conversations” with impending free-agent CB Darius Slay‘s representation. 

“We’re having good conversations,” Quinn said, via Tori Petry of the team’s official site. “Nothing’s really past the finish line yet, but we’re hoping to get a few things done here in the next week or so.” 

Quinn added that league’s new CBA discussions led to a “little bit of a stall,” but has spoken Slay’s agent within the last two weeks. 

“I think all of those negotiations I’ll kind of keep private between myself and his representatives,” Quinn said. “We’ve had a lot of good talks really over the last year or so, including just recently in the last couple of weeks. All those conversations are good.”

Thursday, the Broncos and Rams were reportedly two teams at the top of the pack to land Slay in a trade should he be available. (NFLTR)

Denver discussed a trade for Slay at the deadline last year, but Detroit’s asking price was ultimately too high. The Broncos still have a hole at corner heading into 2020, particularly if they don’t re-sign CB Chris Harris.

The Lions have spoken with multiple teams about a potential trade for Slay after being unable to come to a long-term deal. Any deal for Slay would be contingent on a new team signing the veteran corner to an extension, however. 

Slay skipped mandatory minicamp last June over unhappiness with his current contract. He lost workout bonuses of $250,000 and was fined $88,650. 

Slay, 29, is a former second-round pick of the Lions back in 2013. He played out his rookie contract before agreeing to a four-year, $50.2 million extension that included $23 million fully guaranteed.

Slay stands to make a base salary of $10 million for the 2020 season.

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Slay would free up $10.5 million of available cap space while creating $2.9 million in dead money. 

In 2019, Slay appeared in 14 games for the Lions and recorded 46 tackles, two interceptions, a fumble recovery and 13 pass defenses. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 84 cornerback out of 114 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Slay and the Lions as the news is available.