Darius

Slay

The Bills placed CB Darius Slay on the reserve/did not report list earlier today, so Savage’s addition makes sense. Savage has played for both the Jaguars and Commanders this season, logging one pass breakup, 13 tackles and two quarterback pressures.

Slay was released by the Steelers earlier this week in a mutual parting of ways. At the time, it looked like Slay simply wanted a fresh start elsewhere. After turning down a chance in Buffalo, it’s possible he simply wanted to rejoin the Eagles, who were just behind the Bills in the waiver priority. The Bills still hold Slay’s rights, so his options are to retire or negotiate another release.

Slay was released by Pittsburgh earlier this week. The move was described as a mutual parting of ways. Slay opened the year as a starter for the Steelers but was eventually relegated to backup duties. He was even made a healthy scratch late in his Steelers tenure. Slay doesn’t have much left in the tank, but he is at least a useful depth option for Buffalo.

In a corresponding move, the Steelers signed Asante Samuel Jr. to the active roster. ESPN’s Adam Schefter framed this as the two “mutually agree[ing] to part ways.” The obvious re-landing spot for Slay is in Philadelphia, though he’s free to consider other options now. The 34-year-old had a 58.6 PFF coverage grade for the Steelers, his lowest since his final season in Detroit during the 2019 season.

Darius Slay is a healthy inactive with Asante Samuel Jr. on the active roster now. In fact, all of these are healthy scratches except for Harmon, who was ruled out with a knee injury early in the week by Mike Tomlin.

Also ruled out on Pittsburgh’s defense are CB Darius Slay (concussion) and LB Cole Holcomb (illness), Highsmith had said he was optimistic about playing but the Steelers opted to hold their pass rusher out. These rule-outs are good news for Cincinnati’s offense in what projects to be a shootout on Sunday.

Slay suffered the concussion in Week 10 and looks likely to miss at least one game because of the brain injury. He has three pass breakups and a fumble recovery across nine starts this year. Losing Slay would be a notable blow to a defense that has failed to live up to expectations this year.

The Eagles tried to squeeze Pittsburgh for a draft pick when they found out a deal was in place on Monday but had no leverage in the situation and ultimately released the veteran corner. Once Slay was officially a free agent, he inked a fully guaranteed deal with Pittsburgh. The age-34 corner was still a key cog in Philly’s Super Bowl defense last year, breaking up 13 passes and forcing a fumble. He also led all players with five postseason pass defenses. Despite his strong play, the Eagles were hit on multiple corners in the draft and wanted more cap space over retaining Slay. He stays in Pennsylvania with a starting role for the Steelers on tap for 2025.

As Florio notes, Slay’s release from Philly is not official yet. That means he is still under contract with the Eagles and is not free to sign with another team, despite previous reports saying a deal had been agreed to. Per Florio, the Eagles might also keep Slay. This largely sounds like the Eagles posturing to squeeze out a draft pick from the Steelers, who obviously have their eyes set on Slay. For now, nothing is expected to be finalized until Wednesday, leaving Slay in a state of limbo.

A week after being let go by the Eagles as a cap casualty, Slay, 34, is now headed north to join the Steelers. Despite his advanced age for a corner, Slay still produced like a high-end corner for the Super Bowl champs. He earned a PFF coverage grade of 68.9 while allowing opposing receivers to go for 32-371-2 on 64 targets. Whether or not he’ll be an every-down-corner is to be determined, but regardless, Slay will have plenty to offer the Steelers on what will presumably be a team-friendly deal.