The Bills placed cornerback Darius Slay on reserve/did not report after he opted not to join the team. The Bills claimed Slay off waivers.
Slay would not say whether he would have reported to the Eagles, who were behind the Bills in the waiver claim order, but he will not get that opportunity. The Bills will retain his rights for the season.
In a corresponding move, the Bills claimed veteran safety Darnell Savage off waivers. The Commanders released Savage on Thursday.
Savage joined Washington in September and appeared in eight games for the club, recording 15 total tackles with one forced fumble and one pass defensed. He also played two games with the Jaguars this season.
Savage is a seven-year veteran, who spent his first five seasons with the Packers.
Bills Clips
The Bills have listed two more players with a game status for Sunday’s matchup with the Bengals.
Tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring/knee) and right tackle Spencer Brown (shoulder) are both questionable.
Kincaid has not played since Buffalo’s Nov. 9 loss to Miami. He’s recorded 29 catches for 448 yards with four touchdowns in eight games this season.
Brown has not played since the Nov. 20 loss to the Texans.
Earlier on Friday, head coach Sean McDermott announced Joey Bosa (hamstring/wrist) and Terrel Bernard (elbow) have been ruled out for Week 14. Receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle) is also doubtful.
Left tackle Dion Dawkins (concussion), defensive end A.J. Epenesa (foot), long snapper Reid Ferguson (neck), fullback Reggie Gilliam (knee), tight end Jackson Hawes (back), and defensive tackle T.J. Sanders (wrist) are all off injury report and are set to play.
After the Steelers released cornerback Darius Slay, both the Bills and the Eagles made waiver claims for the balance of his contract. The Bills had priority, but Slay has decided not to report.
If the Eagles had secured the Slay contract on waivers, would Slay have shown up?
Via Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com, Slay would not commit as to whether he would have reported to the Eagles.
Slay’s comments were made on the Speakeasy podcast.
“Mostly, it’s a family decision kind of to it,” Slay said, per Getzenberg. “So, we just see how it goes though. But I’m going to take it day by day.”
Many in league circles think Slay wants to make his way back to the Eagles. If the Bills release Slay, he’ll go through waivers again. If he clears waivers, he can sign with any team, at any time.
The other wrinkle relates to the ability of the Bills to play hardball with Slay. If Slay fails to report, a portion of his $8.745 million signing bonus could be recovered by the Bills, even though the Bills paid none of it.
It’s a simple proposition. The signing bonus represents advance compensation for future services. Failing to provide those services exposes the player to losing some of that compensation.
Earlier this week, the Bills thought they had acquired a veteran defender in cornerback Darius Slay.
But instead of heading to Buffalo after his release from Pittsburgh, Slay has not reported with his agent noting that the cornerback is contemplating his future in football — though Slay may just want to return to Philadelphia.
But the Bills also lost cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram, as he was claimed by the Texans when the club waived him to add Slay. McDermott confirmed the club wanted him back on the practice squad.
“Yeah, I mean it’s unfortunate that that unfolded and went down the way it did,” Bills head coach Sean McDermott said in his Friday press conference, via Joe Buscaglia of TheAthletic.com. “You know, I’m a huge Ja’Marcus Ingram fan and will always be. So I’m always gonna be in his corner and want the best for him. So that’s that’s really where my mind is right now, and you know, I’m getting myself ready to coach this game.”
Asked if he’s still open to having Slay play for the Bills, McDermott deflected.
“I’m really gonna focus on our team right now,” McDermott said. “So, focus on our team and coaching this game in a couple of days here. And I wish him the best, him and his family.”
In 10 games for the Steelers this season, Slay recorded 36 total tackles with three passes defensed and a fumble recovery.
The Bengals are set to have wide receiver Tee Higgins back in the lineup this weekend.
Higgins told reporters on Friday that he has cleared concussion protocol and will be in the lineup against the Bills as the Bengals try for their second straight victory. Higgins was injured in Week 12’s loss to the Patriots.
Getting Higgins back means the Bengals will have Higgins, quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase in the lineup at the same time for the first time since Week 2.
The Bengals improved to 4-8 with last week’s win over the Ravens and there’s some hope that they could find their way into the playoff hunt by replicating last season’s late winning streak. It’s a tall task, but having all hands on deck on offense should help the cause.
The Bills will not have two of their key defensive players when they take on the Bengals this weekend.
Via Chris Brown of the team’s website, head coach Sean McDermott announced in his weekly interview with WGR 550 that defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Terrel Bernard have been ruled out for Week 14.
Bosa is dealing with hamstring and wrist injuries. Bernard has an elbow injury. Neither Bosa nor Bernard has practiced this week.
Receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle) will be listed as doubtful.
Left tackle Dion Dawkins has cleared concussion protocol and is expected to play. Right tackle Spencer Brown’s status will be determined later on Friday, as he’s been limited this week with a shoulder injury.
Defensive end AJ Epenesa (foot) was added to the injury report on Thursday as a non-participant, but is set to practice on Friday and should be OK to play against Cincinnati.
Buffalo’s full final injury report of the week will be released later on Friday.
The Texans placed defensive tackle Tim Settle Jr. on injured reserve on Thursday.
Aaron Wilson of KPRC reports that Settle will undergo season-ending foot surgery.
In 12 games, Settle totaled 15 tackles, a sack and three passes defensed.
The Texans claimed cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram off waivers from the Bills in a corresponding move.
Starting cornerback Kamari Lassiter (foot) has missed both days of practice this week.
Ingram signed with the Bills as an undrafted free agent in 2022, and he played seven games for Buffalo this season. Ingram has six tackles this season and 33 for his career. He also has totaled a sack, four passes defensed and two interceptions in his four-year career.
Bills defensive end Joey Bosa missed a second consecutive day of practice.
Bosa injured his hamstring late in Sunday’s win over the Steelers, and he also has a wrist injury.
Linebacker Terrel Bernard (elbow) and wide receiver Joshua Palmer (knee/ankle) also remained out of practice on Thursday.
The Bills added defensive end A.J. Epenesa (foot) to the injury report as a non-participant. He was on Wednesday’s report.
The rest of the report remained the same.
Offensive lineman Spencer Brown (shoulder), left tackle Dion Dawkins (concussion) and tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring/knee) were again limited.
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.
