The Bills claimed cornerback Darius Slay on waivers. That doesn’t mean Slay will be playing for the Bills.
Slay’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said that the veteran defensive back won’t be immediately reporting to his new team.
“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,” Rosenhaus told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
The Eagles also made a claim for the balance of Slay’s contract.
If Slay doesn’t play, he’ll sacrifice $350,000 in salary for the final five weeks of the season. The Bills also could try to recover some of the $8.745 million signing bonus the Steelers paid to Slay as part of his one-year deal — even though the Bills paid none of it.
If the Bills waive Slay, he’d be exposed to waivers again. If not claimed, he’d become a free agent.
Ultimately, Slay’s goal could be to play for the Eagles, who also claimed him on waivers. This could be the next step toward trying to get back there.
Sometimes, the schedule set in May results in a late-season clunker or two. Sometimes, the NFL nails it.
For Week 14, the schedule couldn’t get much better.
Here’s the key. Each of the five windows for the weekend has a game with very high stakes.
It begins tonight, with the surprisingly surging 6-5-1 Cowboys facing the suddenly slumping 7-5 Lions. Both desperately need a win to remain viable in the chase for their respective division titles, or for one of the three NFC wild-cards. The loser won’t be eliminated, but it will get dicey. For the Lions, 11-6 should be good enough. For the Cowboys, however, a loss would make their best possible record 10-6-1. Anyone with an 11-6 record (obviously) would jump them, without the application of a single tiebreaker.
On Sunday, the 1:00 p.m. ET window has three must-watch games. The 6-6 Steelers visit the 6-6 Ravens for first place in the AFC North. (They play again in Week 18.) The 8-4 Colts, who haven’t won in Jacksonville since 2014, play the 8-4 Jaguars for first place in the AFC South. (The rematch happens in Week 17.) And the 4-8 Bengals, whose slim chances of jumping the Steelers and Ravens are hanging by a thread, visit 8-4 Buffalo, which could still jump for the playoff table — and miss.
At 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, the 9-3 Bears and the 8-3-1 Packers renew the NFL’s oldest rivalry at Lambeau Field, with round two set for a Saturday night only 13 days later. It’s the most significant home-and-home for Chicago and Green Bay since the merger, and the biggest game between them since the 2010 NFC Championship.
Rarely are both teams good this late in the season. From the early 1970s through 1988, the Packers were more often than not non-contenders. From 1990 on, the Bears only had sporadic high-level seasons. This year, the black-and-blue planets have aligned perfectly.
On Sunday night, the Texans return to Arrowhead Stadium, where they lost twice in less than a month last season. On a Saturday night in December, Houston kept it within one score, 27-19. In the divisional round of the playoffs, the 23-14 outcome was uncomfortably close for the three-time AFC Champions.
Now, the Texans have won four in a row to get to 7-5. And the Chiefs, at 6-6, have slipped into “run the table” mode. With the first game coming against arguably the best defense in the league.
It all ends on Monday night, when the 8-4 Eagles visit the 8-4 Chargers. Philly has sputtered for weeks on offense, and the Chargers have shown a propensity to step into a periodic pothole. If the Cowboys start Week 14 with a win, the Eagles will be at risk of seeing their lead in the NFC East slip to a half game, 8-5 vs. 7-5-1.
So, yes, December is coming in like a lion. Hopefully, it will go out like a Tyrannosaurus Rex, with four weekends of NFL action setting the stage for one of the craziest final weekends of the regular season we’ve ever seen to start 2026.
On Wednesday, the Bills claimed cornerback Darius Slay on waivers. The team that released Slay in the offseason tried to get him, too.
Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, the Eagles put in a waivers claim for Slay. But the Bills had priority.
Slay’s contract costs only $350,000 for the balance of the year, since the bulk of his 2025 compensation was paid by the Steelers in the form of a signing bonus.
A first-round pick in 2013, the 34-year-old Slay spent seven years with the Lions and five with the Eagles. He’s a one-time All-Pro and a six-time Pro Bowler.
Slay appeared in 10 games with nine starts for the Steelers. He was inactive on Sunday, for Pittsburgh’s game against his new team.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is hopeful about being on the field Monday night against the Eagles, one week after having surgery on his left hand.
Herbert told reporters today that he had a plate and a few screws put into his broken left hand two days ago, according to Omar Ruiz of NFL Network. That gives him one week to recover for the Chargers’ game on Monday night.
The biggest question for Herbert is whether his left hand will be too swollen to take snaps properly. He was able to play after suffering the injury on Sunday against the Raiders, but he operated exclusively out of the shotgun.
Herbert did not practice today, and Trey Lance ran the first-string offense. Lance would start on Monday night if Herbert is not cleared.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert did not practice Wednesday, but the Chargers aren’t ruling him out.
Coach Jim Harbaugh is hopeful Herbert will play Monday night against the Eagles.
“We’re optimistic that’s going to be the case,” Harbaugh said Wednesday, via Omar Navarro of the team website.
Herbert was in attendance at practice, though he didn’t participate.
“He hasn’t missed a beat. Everybody back today, meetings and out on the field for walk-through,” Harbaugh said.
Herbert underwent surgery on Monday to repair a fracture in his left hand.
Harbaugh said Herbert is “day-to-day.”
“Just see how the week goes, but he’s doing good,” Harbaugh said.
