Patriots Could Land Pro Bowl CB After Release

The New England Patriots already have one of the best young cornerbacks in football in Christian Gonzalez, but they definitely need a No. 2 corner alongside of him.

A whole lot of interesting cornerbacks are slated to hit free agency this month, and another one just became available: Darius Slay.

The Philadelphia Eagles have released the six-time Pro Bowler, ending his five-year run with the club. Sara Marshall of Musket Fire already feels that the Patriots should be interested, although she doesn't think it will be easy for New England to land him.

"Because he will be a free agent, it won't be easy to convince him that New England is the place to be regardless of how much money they might offer him," Marshall wrote. "He's coming from a team that has been a consistent Super Bowl contender over the last few years, and that's not exactly the boat the Patriots are in right now."

Still, the Pats have more cap room than any other team in the NFL, so they would be able to offer Slay a pretty nice deal if they so pleased.

Of course, Slay is certainly not the elite defensive back he once was. He registered 49 tackles and 13 passes defended this past season while posting a decent 68.9 coverage grade at Pro Football Focus. Solid, but not spectacular. He also missed the Pro Bowl for just the second time since 2017.

Slay is now 34 years old, so from a timeline standpoint, it actually may not make too much sense for the Patriots to pursue him. New England needs to get younger, and Slay is clearly declining.

The Pats would be better off trying to land someone like Byron Murphy on the open market rather than bringing in a past-his-prime player in Slay.