Detroit Lions: It’s time to end the madness and pay Darius Slay

The Detroit Lions are playing with fire; the organization should be a little bit more persistent to smooth things over with star corner Darius Slay.

Darius Slay has been a no show throughout the off-season, and at the moment the Detroit Lions don’t appear to be very concerned about that.  It’s not as if lock-down corners just fall off trees in the NFL–that is precisely what Darius is, a shutdown corner.

Plenty of other NFL teams would be very interested in adding an impact player like Slay to their defense.  He’s the type of corner you run out there and forget about if you are a defensive coordinator.  He’s an insurance policy for his teammates; he doesn’t require help over the top, which allows the safeties to help elsewhere; he’s an absolute luxury.

The Detroit Lions should consider renegotiating Slay’s contract which currently has two years remaining from the original four-year agreement.  Yes, Slay makes plenty of money, ($12-million per season, $23-million guaranteed over four years) and yes, I understand how some people are discouraged with the process.  I’ve read comments that fans have made similar to this–why did he sign the deal two years ago and now suddenly it’s not acceptable to him?  “The Detroit Lions can’t cave into these players demands (Darius Slay, Damon Harrison) because if they do many of the other players could start also holding out in the middle of their current contracts.”

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I understand the frustration, but let me briefly mention a couple of things.  Whatever line of work that you are in, imagine you start to meet your weekly, monthly, yearly goals but continue to make the same money.  You might think, that’s fine, this is what I get paid to do, great.  What about when you start to overachieve?  Maybe you are in sales and month after month you are selling well above your employers’ expectations but continue to get compensated the same as the person in the office next to you, selling the minimum amount and locking in the cruise control.

What if you were in construction, you take the initiative to make sure everything runs smooth, maybe you show up early to comfortably lay out a plan for the day. Perhaps when the foreman leaves the site, you endure the responsibility of the job site but continue to get paid the same wage as the person continuing to play on their phone, take washroom breaks, etc.  You should go up to the foreman the first chance you get to ask for a raise for completing the extra daily tasks.

That’s what Darius Slay is doing; he’s an elite corner that wants to be paid his due.  The 28-year old is the thirteenth highest paid corner in football.  You can try, but you will not convince me that he’s the thirteenth best corner in football.  His 13 picks are second to only Marcus Peters (14) over the last three years.  Since 2016 he leads the league in passes defended with 56.  Darius Slay is undoubtedly in the top eight or higher; he wants to be paid that way.  No outsider should get between a person and their money.

Another issue throughout this league is the guaranteed money.  If a player doesn’t focus on guaranteed money an NFL team can release said player at any time, no questions asked, no more commitment.  If the league lowered the salaries per player making them fully guaranteed, we’d get away from the outrageous money and negotiations would be much better.  Think about this, if you made $70k at your job, but you can be fired at any time, whether an unfortunate illness occurs, or your performance is slightly lacking, or maybe a younger person can do the same job cheaper.  You receive no severance, no unemployment insurance, etc. — Or you could make a secure $55k fully guaranteed what are you taking?

It’s comparing apples to oranges a bit, but these players are negotiating for themselves but what about the 53rd player on the roster who makes the league minimum?  They could be cut at any time, maybe even completely out of football after their first contract expires.

For the Detroit Lions to compete for the NFC North Division title it’s imperative they have their full complement of players ready to go. The stalemate could also have an impact on future negotiations which also won’t bode well for the Detroit Lions if they hope to retain Slay once he becomes an unrestricted free agent in two years. The organization needs to mend the fences and be sure to have Darius Slay ready for work by week one of the NFL season, period.