The Eagles landed Pro Bowl cornerback Darius Slay on Thursday in a deal with the Detroit Lions, a move that gave them the shut-down cornerback they have been looking for.
It also got Slay out of a situation in Detroit he has been looking to get out — and it is starting to become clear why.
Speaking to the Detroit Free Press, Slay gave details on why the relationship between him and former head coach Matt Patricia fell apart, including one story that is pretty shocking.
"He told me in front of the whole team, in the team meeting room, showed clips of me in practice getting a ball caught on me or so in practice," Slay said to the Detroit Free Press. "I posted a picture (of a wide receiver on social media), and he told me, stop sucking this man's private. So I'm like, 'Whoa.' I'm like, 'Hold up.' Where I'm from, that don't fly. Cause I wouldn't say that to him. I wouldn't say to him to stop you know what to Bill Belichick. I wouldn't do that. That's just not me as a man. That's disrespectful to me and so from there on it was done with."
Slay went on to say that he was "real teary-eyed" after the incident and had to be calmed down by teammates.
In addition, Slay said Patricia once told him he was simply a good cornerback, not an elite one after Patrica found out Slay was working out with Richard Sherman, Aqib Talib and Xavier Rhodes.
"He told me, out of his mouth, he said, 'Those are elite guys. You're not elite. You're a good player, but they are elite. And Sherman's smart. He used you,' " Slay said to the Detroit Free Press. "He tried to say Sherm used me to know what Marvin Jones do. I said, 'He can find out what Marvin Jones do watching film. That ain't got nothing to do with me.' What am I going to tell him? I don't know the offense. I know route combinations, (but) I ain't going to know the offense."
Needless to say, it is unlikely Slay is going to have those kind of issues with his coaches in Philadelphia. Eagles head coach Doug Pederson is considered one of the most player-friendly coaches in the NFL and Slay has a history with defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, one of the top reasons the team traded for Slay.
Slay, 29-years old, has played in 103 games in his career, totaling 347 tackles, 19 interceptions and 104 pass deflections. He is expected to come to Philadelphia and be their No. 1 cornerback, and he was paid handsomely for it, netting a new deal that makes him the highest paid cornerback in the NFL.
