PITTSBURGH —The Pittsburgh Steelers and cornerback Darius Slay have mutually agreed to part ways, his agents told ESPN on Tuesday.
Slay, 34, 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.
Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Darius Slay during a game against the Chicago Bears on Nov. 23, 2025 — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
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."
It's unclear as to whether Samuel will continue to be a backup to Pierre — the role he served on Sunday — or if he will work his way into the starting lineup. Pierre is questionable this week after suffering a concussion against the Bills. He remains in the NFL concussion protocol.
Slay will now go through waivers. The Steelers already paid him $8.745 million in signing bonus this season, and that will not be impact by his release. Slay has also earned $906,339 in salary this season. The Steelers will save the remaining $348,611 that he was owed.
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 2013 NFL Draft. Slay has been a six-time Pro Bowler and was an first-team All-Pro with the Lions in 2017, when he led the NFL in interceptions.
Chris Ward contributed.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Steelers Surprisingly Release Former All-Pro Cornerback
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