According to ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Philadelphia Eagles are planning to release Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay. After the two parties couldn’t come to an agreement on a restructured contract, Big Play Slay and Philly will part ways.

Eagles set to cut their CB1

After the team resigned CB James Bradberry on Tuesday to a three-year, $38M contract, the writing was on the wall for Slay. Initially, Slay was allowed to seek a trade, but after a handful of trades involving top-tier corners like Jalen Ramsey and Stephon Gilmore, the trade market for cornerbacks may have dried up.

Slay was due $17M in base salary in 2023 – a number the Eagles simply won’t be able to afford. Per Derrick Gunn, Slay was seeking a three-year fully guaranteed contract.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Eagles are designating Slay’s release as a post June 1 cut, meaning $13M of his cap hit will be pushed until next year, while only accounting for approximately $8M against the cap this year.

Per Spotrac, if the team were to cut Slay without the post June 1 designation, he’d incur a $21.2M dead cap hit this offseason while only saving about $4M in cap space. So, cutting Slay with the post 6/1 designation is obviously the right move.

Hopefully, the front office will now be able to retain safety CJ Gardner-Johnson. It would certainly soften the blow of losing arguably the best player in the Eagles secondary. Fingers crossed Howie can get it done.

Mandatory Credit: USA Today Sports