Steelers Now
Pittsburrgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay had a strong 2024 season en route to Philadelphia’s Super Bowl victory. Despite this, the Eagles appeared to be content moving on from the 34-year-old veteran. The reason? A potentially lingering knee injury from 2023.
“As I’m told, one of his knees is a concern. He actually had arthroscopic surgery on it late in 2023,” Caplan said on FOX Sports Radio. “You have to wonder how well he can run … And the Eagles learned this with James Bradberry, who they cut, who signed a big extension two years ago.
“You never know when a guy’s going to lose it, and they could lose it in an instant. The Steelers know this.”
At training camp, Slay threw cold water on Caplan’s report.
“I just came off playing in the No. 1 pass defense. Does it look like my knee is an issue? I don’t feel anything there. It’s fine,” Slay said to PennLive.
Slay, who is entering his 13th season, was originally drafted by the Detroit Lions in 2013. He played under the Steelers current defensive coordinator from 2014-2017. He was traded to Philadelphia in 2020 where he played a strong, steady presence in the Eagles’ secondary.
Last season, Steelers cornerback Joey Porter Jr. was the most penalized cornerback in the league, but having a Super Bowl champion to learn from in Darius Slay could be beneficial.
Slay revealed in a interview with Mina Kimes of ESPN in the offseason that he wants to not only help fix Porter’s issues with penalties, but also improve his game in the interceptions department. Porter has only two INTs through his first two seasons.
“They say he can’t catch, but we’re gonna fix that,” Slay told Kimes. “We’re gonna catch the rock this year.”
Slay has recorded 28 interceptions in his decorated career. The 34-year-old cornerback is a Super Bowl champion, eight-time Pro Bowler and has a first-team All-Pro selection (2017) under his belt. Slay hopes to give Porter and the Steelers young cornerbacks he same wisdom that he passed down to Philadelphia Eagles rookie cornerbacks Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell last season during their Super Bowl title run.
“I have a good resume with younger guys, trying to help build them,” Slay said. “That’s my job. I’m just here to help him, do everything I can to make sure he succeeds at what he does. And try to get him to be one of the best in the game.”
Jobe Morrison contributed reporting for this story.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers CB Darius Slay Clears the Air on Knee Injury Rumor
