Darius Slay will be released by the Eagles and has publicly stated that he would be interested in a return to the Lions.
Final season with Lions:
Let's look back to how his tenure with the Lions ended after seven years. During his final season with the Lions in 2019, he was hampered by a hamstring injury. While he only missed two games that year, the prospect of giving a big-money extension to a 28-year-old CB with ongoing hamstring issues may have been too much risk for the Lions to accept.
Five years with the Eagles:
The Lions ended up trading Slay to the Eagles where he was given a three-year, $50 million extension.
During his five year stint with the Eagles, he proved to be healthy and reliable playing 15, 16, 17, 12, and 14 games in each regular season while also playing nine playoff games. Not only was he reliable, but his performance was excellent as he made three pro bowls.
There were no major injuries with the Eagles. The most significant issue was an arthroscopic knee surgery in 2023 for which he missed four games. The recovery timeline is consistent with a meniscus trim and clean-out. A meniscus injury can pose problems down the line but in the short-term may not have much, if any, detrimental impact.
In retrospect, the Lions would have been wise to give him that big extension themselves back in 2019 but predicting health and reliability is difficult to impossible.
Conclusion:
Now that Slay is available again, should the Lions consider bringing back this now 34-year-old CB to finish out his career? From a medical perspective, he has proven to be very reliable over the past five years and there are no significant concerns going into next year.
With health being a non-issue, money and role are the major factors. If the Lions end up re-signing Carlton Davis, Slay would need to be satisfied with a backup position and commensurate salary. If the Lions don't end up re-signing Davis, then Slay could be offered the starting position and salary that he likely wants.
