Darius Slay sounds off on 'business' of Quandre Diggs trade, if he wants out of Detroit
The Detroit Lions put a shockwave through not only the entire NFL but their own organization when they shipped safety and team captain Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks this week.
It was a move straight out of the “Patriot Way” handbook and left Diggs “blindsided.” Cornerback Darius Slay, one of his best friends, called it “bull—” on Twitter and went into more detail with reporters on Thursday.
“Nobody’s safe, in my opinion,” Slay said.
Slay declares ‘nobody’s safe’ in NFL business
The seventh-year veteran, all with the Lions, spoke to the media for 7 1/2 minutes, per the Detroit Free Press, about what trading Diggs meant to him and the locker room. It was two days after the trade was reported.
"It basically say it don’t matter who you is," Slay said. "No matter how much you put in, at the end of the day it’s a business so that’s how I just look at it. Nobody’s safe, in my opinion."
Slay first tweeted about the news, sharing the report with a “WTF” and face palm emoji. He later shared posts from others about the trade in the following days. Fellow teammates were also not pleased.
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The Lions (2-3-1) traded Diggs and a 2021 seventh-round pick to the Seahawks (5-2) for a 2020 fifth-round pick. Diggs was a Pro Bowl alternate last year.
Slay kept coming back to the “business part of it” and how it impacts his own situation. Via Pride of Detroit:
“All I know is I have to picture it as anybody can go. That’s it. I just see there’s no loyalty in there. No matter how much you put in, if they feel it’s a little different, they can get rid of you. So I just play ball.”
Slay, who stayed away from the team during a contract dispute but returned to training camp without a deal, was faced with questions about if he wanted out of Detroit given what happened.
Does Slay want to be traded?
Slay was asked if his “nobody’s safe” belief gives him pause about his own situation. Via the Detroit Free Press:
"Anybody can get traded but I personally wouldn’t care, my personal feeling. Like I said, it’s a business. I wouldn’t care. It is what it is, go on about the next day."
Asked to clarify, Slay said it's not that he wants out of Detroit.
"Nah, don’t look like that," he said, "I’m just saying the business part of it, they just doing that. That just say that it don’t matter, they’re making choices up there so you just got to live and deal with it."
Slay led the league in interceptions in 2017 and made back-to-back Pro Bowl appearances. He was drafted in 2013 and watched Golden Tate traded away last year at the deadline. As for any fears as the deadline approaches:
“Hell no. F— no. It’s the last thing I’m worried about. I don’t give a damn, honestly. I don’t. Like I said, I just work. No matter where I’m at, whether I’m here or somewhere else, I just go to work.”
When asked outright if he wanted to be in the Lions locker room for the rest of the year, he said, “It don’t matter where I’m at, I just wanna play ball. It don’t matter. That’s it.”
He later clarified on Twitter:
For fans get the wrong impression I love the state of Michigan I give y’all my all on an off the field for u guys!!!! BigPlay just don’t like the business side of it!!!
— Darius Slay (@_bigplayslay23) October 24, 2019
The Lions are on a three-game losing skid, including back-to-back losses in the NFC North. They’ll host the New York Giants on Sunday.
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