On Tuesday night, the NFL announced that Detroit Lions cornerback Darius Slay had been selected to his second-straight Pro Bowl.
http://gty.im/1067887702
If you follow Slay on Twitter, you have seen a plethora of tweets sent out by him asking for Lions’ fans to give him a Pro Bowl vote.
Now, we are sure he is absolutely thrilled and honored to be included with the best players in the NFL, but we bet he is also pretty excited about the pay increase he will get in 2019.
In his contract, Slay has included that if he meets 2 of the 3 achievements listed below, he receives a $550,000 base salary escalator for the 2019 season.
- 5 or more interceptions (he currently has 3)
- Playing in 80% or more of the Lions defensive snaps (currently at 87.4%)
- Being selected to the Pro Bowl
Unless the Lions decide to bench Slay for the remaining two games of the season, he will have a nice pay increase in 2019.
Congrats to Darius “Big Play” Slay.
BONUS CONTENT:
Jason Hanson vs. Matt Prater: Who is the greatest Detroit Lions’ kicker of all-time?
While browsing Twitter this afternoon, I came across a series of tweets debating whether Jason Hanson or Matt Prater is the greatest Detroit Lions‘ kicker of all-time. My immediate response was that Prater is the best the Lions have ever had but that was based solely on his percentage of makes from 50 yards and out.
That being said, I figured it would only be fair if I took a closer look before jumping to such a decisive conclusion.
Longevity
As you probably already know if you clicked on this, Jason Hanson spent 21 seasons with the Lions. During that time, he was selected to the Pro Bowl on two occasions (1997 and 1999) and he was always considered to be one of the most consistent kickers in the league. In his career, Hanson made 495 field goals (23.57 per season), including a career-best 34 in 1993.
As far as Prater goes, he is currently in his 12th season (5th season with the Lions), and like Hanson, he has been selected to two Pro Bowls (2013 and 2016). So far in his career, Prater has drilled 270 field goals (22.5 per season), including a career-best 31 in 2016 with the Lions.
You never know with kickers, but chances are that Prater, who is 34, will not play another nine seasons to match Hanson and likely will not end up with as many career field goals.
*Note: Prater still has two games remaining in 2018
