Cornerback Darius Slay had a roller coaster ride of an offseason. Before free agency began, he was granted permission by the Philadelphia Eagles to seek out a trade according to Diana Russini of ESPN. When no trade materialized, it looked like Darius Slay was going to be released.

The Eagles had a bit of a salary cap crunch as numerous key defensive players were hitting the open market and they didn’t have the money to retain them all. Javon Hargrave, Kyzir White, T.J. Edwards, C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Marcus Epps all departed in free agency and it looked as if Darius Slay would be joining them.

But, instead, he was never actually cut. The Eagles held onto him and were able to work out a new contract to alleviate the salary cap issues. Darius Slay and the team agreed to a three-year, $42 million deal to keep him in Philadelphia.

However, Darius Slay recently revealed on his podcast “Big Play Slay” that he was very close to joining another team this offseason. The Baltimore Ravens were the team that pursued him, but he knew in his heart that he wanted to remain with the Eagles.

“I was almost — this close — a Baltimore Raven. This close,” said Slay, holding up two fingers close together. “But I wanted to be an Eagle. I stayed an Eagle because I know we were going to figure something out.”

The Ravens would have been a logical landing spot for Darius Slay this offseason. One of their starting cornerbacks, Marcus Peters, was hitting free agency and they were in need of someone to pair with Marlon Humphrey.

According to Darius Slay, the deal was close to being done. The Ravens offered everything he was looking for, but he gave the Eagles a chance to match and that is exactly what they did.

“The Baltimore Ravens were the first team that called,” Slay said. “They offered just what I wanted. I said, ‘If the Eagles do that, I’m going to stay an Eagle.’ It was nice now. I was almost a Raven.”

For the Eagles, retaining Darius Slay was a big move. They were also able to re-sign James Bradberry, meaning their lockdown cornerback duo from 2022 will be intact for years to come.

Slay was named to his fifth Pro Bowl team last season, finishing the season with 55 tackles, 14 passes defended and three interceptions.