Former Eagles cornerback Darius Slay could be heading to the other side of the state.
There are some conflicting reports. Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports reported that Slay is signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Meanwhile, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported that Slay is in talks with the Steelers but the deal isn’t yet done.
Slay, 34, played five seasons with the Eagles, making three Pro Bowls. He went to two Super Bowls in those five seasons and became a Super Bowl champion a month ago. In his five seasons with the Eagles, Slay had nine interceptions and 56 pass breakups.
The Eagles last week informed Slay that he would be released with a post-June 1 designation. That means that the Eagles will get $4.324 million in cap relief but they won’t get it until June. They will have to carry his full cap hit through that date.
After the release, Slay said on his podcast that there were no hard feelings and that he would be open to a reunion if things worked out that way.
“It is part of the business and, nah, I’m not hurt about it,” Slay said on the Big Play Slay podcast. “I’m not sad about it. This is what I signed up for. I knew I gave that team everything I had, gave that organization everything I had. So it’s always a possibility, though, of your boy coming back. …
“This time, I’m just thankful I could get ahead of free agency if I find me a good destination for myself. But hopefully, we’ll see how the Eagles do. If the Eagles do something nice, they know I’d love to be back. They know that. They know that. And I understand how this game is. Teams get younger, teams save cap space because they pay younger guys for their future. And that’s why I said there are no hard feelings.
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“I know I’m 34. I know I’m way out of my prime but still playing at an elite, elite level. I know me and Howie (Roseman) had a great talk and he said the same. It’s not that I can’t play, it’s just part of the business. He said we’ll see how things shake out and we will. So possibly, he might spin the block back like he did last time. He spinned the block back and a year, two years later, Super Bowl champs. We’ll see.”
The Eagles are still in a pretty good position at cornerback with Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean entering their second NFL seasons in 2025. But they will now need to replace Slay. And, earlier on Monday, their top backup Isaiah Rodgers reportedly agreed to a two-year, $15 million deal with the Minnesota Vikings.
With Rodgers gone, the top incumbent who could start at the outside corner spot is former fourth-round pick Kelee Ringo. Ringo, 22, was drafted in 2023 and has played in 34 games with 5 starts in his NFL career. While Ringo has shown promise, he was beat out by Rodgers for the top backup role in 2024.
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