Will Darius Slay be a Detroit Lion in 2020?
That is one of the biggest questions that will come up over and over again this coming offseason.
With Lions ownership announcing that both Bob Quinn and Matt Patricia will be retained for 2020 with the expectation of “contending for the playoffs,” you can bet the duo will do whatever they can to win immediately.
According to Chris Burke of The Athletic, that expectation will likely mean that Slay will be a Lion in 2020.
A potential Darius Slay trade? Scrap that notion, for the time being. Slay and Patricia aren’t exactly 100 percent simpatico, and Slay’s desire for a contract extension threatens to loom over the coming months, but a coach and GM facing a get better-or-get out setup shouldn’t spend much time shopping their three-time Pro Bowl cornerback.
After he held out for a time this past spring, Slay is a virtual lock to do so again if he doesn’t get a reworked contract — he’s due $10 million in base salary, with a $13.4 million cap hit for 2020; the top end of the cornerback market earns $14 million-$15 million per year, and $40 million-$50 million guaranteed.
“We’ll figure that out one day, I don’t know,” Slay said Wednesday. “… I mean, of course I’m gonna want a new deal, who don’t want one?”
Unless another GM comes calling with an exorbitant offer, Quinn probably will have to concede and do what it takes to keep Slay happy. Tough to see an already struggling Lions secondary being better, or playoff-caliber in 2019, without its No. 1 cornerback.
Nation what do you think? Will Slay be back in 2020?
— Quotes from Chris Burke, The Athletic — Source
