The Philadelphia Eagles finally have a Pro Bowl-caliber cornerback

The Philadelphia Eagles have been desperate for an elite cornerback since Asante Samuel left the team in 2012.

Sure, they’ve had a few decent options over the years, from Brandon Boykin to Jalen Mills, and now Avonte Maddox, but the past decade is littered with the names of far more busts, misses, or what-could-have-beens, from Byron Maxwell, to Nnamdi Asomugha, Ronald Darby, and the not-so-dynamic duo of Bradley Fletcher and Cary Williams, who all played on the outside, and weren’t very good at it, despite what their paychecks would suggest.

Fortunately, Howie Roseman said “enough” and finally made a trade for a legit option to shut that conversation once and for all, exchanging a pair of draft picks to steal away Darius Slay from the Detroit Lions.

Will Darius Slay become the first Philadelphia Eagles cornerback to make it to the Pro Bowl since Asante Samuel back in 2010? Only time will tell, but Pro Bowl or no Pro Bowl, it’s impossible to argue that “Big Play” is anything other than the best cornerback to don a midnight green uniform over the last decade.

Philadelphia Eagles fans need to vote Darius Slay into the darn Pro Bowl.

Heading into the 2021 NFL season, there was a small but vocal segment of the Philadelphia Eagles fandom that wanted to trade Darius Slay.

They weighed his down 2020 campaign, his age, and the obligations of his contract and figured that securing a draft capital return similar to what Howie Roseman traded away one year prior might have been a savvy call as the team road towards a soft rebuild.

… something tells me those opinionists have changed their feathers over the past 13 weeks.

Since switching it up from the number 24 to 2, Slay’s game has reverted to his late-Detroit form. He’s picked off three passes, recovered two fumbles, and scored three(!) defensive touchdowns, all the while only allowing 394 yards through the air, three touchdowns, and an opposing passer rating of 74.0.

But wait, it gets better. Not only is Slay statistically playing at a high level, but he’s actually backing it up with advanced analytics, with PFF rating Philly’s premier perimeter option their fourth-best overall cornerback, 10 spots higher than teammate, and fellow Pro Bowl-worthy talent, Avonte Maddox, who is in the middle of a breakout campaign in the slot.

Factor in a Defensive Player of the Week win back in Week 10, and Slay’s resume for Pro Bowl consideration is darn good; as good, if not better than two of his last three Pro Bowl campaigns, to be sure.

In an ideal world, the Philadelphia Eagles would have drafted their next great cornerback. They’ve surely used enough high-value draft picks on the positions over the last half-decade, with a few more rookie-scale players acquired via trade. Unfortunately, it just never quite worked out. But do you know what? It’s not about how you secure a legit shutdown cornerback but rather whether or not a team has one. Darius Slay is a shutdown cornerback, and whether he becomes the Eagles’ first Pro Bowler at the position since 2010 or not, it’s clear he is most deserving of the honor.