Steelers Now
Former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay is unsure if he wants to continue playing and will not be reporting to the Buffalo Bills, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. The Bills claimed Slay off waivers from the Steelers on Wednesday.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Slay’s former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, put in a waivers claim for him. But the Bills had priority.
“Slay is honored that a first-class organization like the Bills claimed him, but he is going to take some time away from football right now and decide in the next few days if he wants to keep playing,” Slay’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN.
Slay was brought into Pittsburgh with the anticipation of him being a starting cornerback for the Steelers this season, but he lost that role, and even lost his slot on the active roster last week.
Slay started each of the first nine games of the season, but a concussion suffered against the Los Angeles Chargers on Nov. 9 kept him out of the following week’s game. Veteran backup James Pierre replaced Slay, and he played well in his absence.
Head coach Mike Tomlin initially said that Slay would resume his starting role after coming out of the concussion protocol for the team’s Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears. But Pierre instead starter, with Slay playing just 22 snaps in Chicago.
Last week against the Buffalo Bills, Slay was a healthy scratch while Asante Samuel Jr. was promoted from the practice squad.
“Really it was less about Slay and more about getting an opportunity to see Asante Samuel,” Tomlin said. “He’s a global NFL starter type who’s been on our practice squad. This time of year, as attrition sets in, you step into stadiums week in and week out, things happen, and we certainly want to have an opportunity to see him in stadium before we maybe had to make a decision on him, before someone else forced our hand.
“So, it was about that for us. Slay has missed some time due to a variety of injuries and so forth. It was about getting a look at that guy that started a lot of games in this league, and we did. We liked some of the things that we saw.”
Slay spent the last five years with the Eagles as a starting outside cornerback. He started 14 games for Philly last regular season, plus another four on the Eagles’ run to their Super Bowl LIX championship. He finished the regular season with 49 tackles, three tackles for loss, 13 passes defended and one forced fumble. Slay also had an interception in the Eagles’ Wild Card win over the Green Bay Packers.
Slay came to the Eagles in 2020, when current Steelers assistant general manager Andy Weidl was the Philadelphia vice president of player personnel.
Before his time with Philly, Slay spent seven seasons with the Detroit Lions, who selected him out of Mississippi State in the second round of the...
