The Detroit Lions signed cornerback Darius Slay to a contract extension through the 2020 season, the team announced Friday.
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Pro Football Talk first reported the news.
While he had a slow start last season, losing a number of 50-50 balls early, he remained confident and started focusing on knocking the ball down instead of intercepting passes, advice given to him by Glover Quin and James Ihedigbo.
Mlive.com reports the two sides have been negotiating since Super Bowl week.
Slay, 25, has played three seasons with the Lions after being drafted from Mississippi State in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft.
The total guaranteed now ranks Slay seventh among corners.
Slay ended up drafted ahead of the 2012 Thorpe Award, victor Banks in the 2013 NFL Draft.
Right now I’ll say (I deserve to be paid among the) top seven, just cause as long as (Darrelle) Revis is in the game, he’s going to be the best corner to me.
Carey played in 16 games last season, but did not have any starts. He had 59 total tackles and 48 solo tackles. He has a passer rating of 90.1 when targeted in coverage, and he only allows a completion percentage of 63.2. He was targeted 68 times, per NFL Media research.
After Mathis suffered a season-ending concussion, Slay started traveling with the opponent’s top receiver, a sign of how far he had come after being benched in favor of Mathis during his rookie year.
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Slay rebounded to become a starter in 2014 and then an emerging star last season.
