The Lions traded one of their captains on Tuesday, and they may have pushed one of their best players toward the door as a result.
Two days after the Lions sent Quandre Diggs to the Seahawks, Darius Slay said he's feeling "like sh*t" and doesn't care if he stays in Detroit long term. Slay and Diggs were leaders in the secondary and close friends off the field.
"We’ve been playing together five years. Team captain. For that to happen is kind of crazy, but I guess that’s the business part of it," Slay said.
The Lions signed Diggs, a sixth-round pick in 2015 who had worked his way into a starting role, to a three-year extension before the start of last season. He continued his ascent in 2018 and was named a Pro Bowl alternate. But Diggs' play slipped this season, and the Lions sent him packing for a fifth-round pick.
"It just says it don’t matter who you are, don’t matter how much you put in," Slay said, "At the end of the day it’s a business. That’s how I look at it. Nobody’s safe, in my opinion."
With the trade deadline looming Oct. 29, Slay was asked if he's concerned about his own status with the team.
"Anybody can get traded, I personally wouldn’t care. Like I said, it’s a business, I wouldn’t even care. It’d be what it is, go on about the next day," said Slay.
Slay clarified he doesn't want out of Detroit, but when asked later if he wants to be with the Lions beyond the trade deadline, he wouldn't commit one way or the other. He merely repeated his stance from before -- don't care.
"All I know is, I’m here, I’m trying to win. That’s it," Slay said.
The two-time Pro Bowler was visibly upset, making no effort to conceal his disapproval of a controversial decision. But he said he won't bring these feelings to Matt Patricia or general manager Bob Quinn.
"I ain’t talking to either one of them about that, that’s their problem," said Slay. "I’m working, that’s all I do. I work. It’s not no kind of relationship or nothing like that. It’s just, I’m here, I work here, this is my job, I have to do my job."
Whether he'll be here much longer remains to be seen.