Darius Slay is staying with the Eagles and getting a contract extension [UPDATE]

In a shocking turn of events, the star cornerback will not be released and will instead return to Philly!

FIRST UPDATE: The Eagles are signing Darius Slay to a two-year contract extension through 2025, according to NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo. We’ll watch out for the exact terms but this deal figures to lower the hefty $26.1 million cap number he was set to account for in 2023.

SECOND UPDATE: So much for “no new money” for Slay. It’s a two-year extension worth $42 million with $23 million fully guaranteed, according to Rapoport.

ORIGINAL STORY BELOW.

After numerous media reports Wednesday, as well as confirmation from the player himself, indicated he would not be returning to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023, cornerback Darius Slay announced on Twitter late Wednesday that rumors of his departure were greatly exaggerated.

In a shocking turn of events, multiple media outlets are now reporting Slay and the Eagles have agreed to a re-worked deal that will keep him in Philly, provide the team with more cap space, and give Slay the long-term security he was seeking.

Despite their cap inflexibility, general manager Howie Roseman has somehow managed to sign Rashaad Penny and retain James Bradberry, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, Boston Scott and now Darius Slay, the latter just hours after the player himself all but confirmed Philadelphia would be releasing him (that tweet from Slay has since been deleted).

However, when the official start of the league year began at 4pm ET Wednesday, the team did not release him, instead apparently working on a new contract to keep him in Philadelphia. Had they gone through with a post-June 1 designation on Slay’s release, it would have saved them $17 million in cap space but the team would have been unable to spend the money until that time. It’s unclear as of this writing what the re-worked deal is, but regardless, it allows the Eagles to keep one of the NFL’s best cornerback duos in place for a Super Bowl window that is open right now.

Now, all attention turns to efforts to re-sign C.J. Gardner-Johnson. Does Roseman have enough cap flexibility to pull that off, too?

Stay tuned!