The past two days in the NFL have been strange as far as player-coach relationships go.
On Wednesday, former Houston Texans star wideout DeAndre Hopkins said there was a “power struggle” between himself and Texans head coach Bill O'Brien. This struggle, as well as the fact Hopkins reportedly wanted a raise in salary, led to the Texans trading Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals in exchange for Cardinals running back David Johnson and draft-pick compensation.
Later that same day, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reported Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia did not approve of star cornerback signing and exchanging jerseys with other players:
Slay has one year left on the contract extension he signed in 2016, but his departure has been widely expected after he and the team spent much of the past year at odds.
Slay sat out voluntary workouts and mandatory minicamp last spring in a contractual dispute that was never resolved; his fun-loving personality never meshed with third-year Lions coach Matt Patricia, who abhorred his practice of signing and exchanging jerseys after every game, win or loss; and he didn’t hide his displeasure when the Lions traded his good friend Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks in the fall.
Of course, Slay was indeed traded shortly after the Lions signed veteran corner Desmond Trufant on Wednesday.
Detroit sent Slay to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he will reportedly sign a three-year, $50 million extension to become the highest-paid corner in football in terms of annual average value. Slay will immediately improve an Eagles secondary that ranked 21st in the NFL last season, per Pro Football Focus.
But, what's the deal with all these coaches (reportedly) having poor relationships with star players?
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