Slay pointed to Reed Blankenship, who will be entering his fourth season in September.

"Reed being around me and a lot of veterans before, I'm sure he could lead that group the right way," Slay said. "That's who I feel would be leading the group if I ain't in the building. He's a great damn leader. If they brought another veteran in who has played a lot, they could be a leader. But for sure, if I'm not in that room, Reed Blankenship will be a great one."

In his third pro season and second as a starter, Blankenship was one of the two starters on the back end for all 19 games he played (15 in the regular season and all four in the playoffs).

The Middle Tennessee State product finished with 78 tackles in the regular season, 4 interceptions, 6 pass breakups and a fumble recovery while playing 78% of the defensive snaps. He missed the Dec. 8 game aginst Carolina while in the concussion protocoal and also sat out the meaningless Week 18 game agsinst the New York Giants when Nick Sirianni sat most of his key contributors.

He added 27 more tackles in the postseason, along with a forced fumble and fumble recovery while playing in 99% of the defensive snaps (264 total) wn route to a Super Bowl LIX championship.