Matthew Slater, one of the greatest special teamers in NFL history, was nearly a Steeler. Sitting down with former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman, the host of the popular “Games with Names” podcast, Edelman recounted the 2018 season, noting the band stayed together with Slater re-signing with the Patriots. That’s when Slater interrupted to note that nearly didn’t happen.
“Almost left,” Slater said. “Pittsburgh. They were trying to hardball me in negotiations. I had to almost pull the emergency chute, get out of there.”
The Steelers showing interest in Slater is not brand-new news. In March 2018, ESPN’s Field Yates reported that Slater was in Pittsburgh to visit with the team. Three days later, he signed a new two-year deal with New England worth $5.2 million. Slater didn’t expand on what type of “hardball” the Steelers were playing. But that is a new detail to the story of why he returned to New England, evidently getting a stronger offer while on the Pittsburgh tarmac.
“I got the call at the airport. Needless to say, I signed back,” he said.
It’s a similar story to what played out with Dont’a Hightower in 2017, the linebacker nearly reaching a deal with Pittsburgh before returning to Foxborough.
Slater’s return to New England brought him his third and final Super Bowl ring, the Patriots beating the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3. At the time, Slater was 33 but still one of the game’s top coverage men. One of the greatest special teams players of all-time, if not the greatest, Slater made 10 Pro Bowls and two All-Pro teams throughout his career, 2008 to 2023. He’s now joined Edelman in retirement, hanging up his cleats last month.
For his career, he racked up 191 tackles with his best season coming in 2011, finishing with 24 combined stops. That year, 18 of them were solo tackles, numbers rarely seen by a special teamer, especially one game planned around by opposing special teams coaches.
The Steelers have their own rich history of stellar special teamers. They employed one of the NFL’s first true long snappers in Kendall Gammon, who played for the team from 1992 to 1995. He would go on to become the first true snapper selected to the Pro Bowl, though that occurred later in his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers early-to-mid 2000s boasted a handful of notable names, including LB Clint Kreiwaldt, WR Sean Morey, and CB Chidi Iwuoma. In recent years, WR Miles Boykin has served as an excellent gunner while S Miles Killebrew is one of the top specialists in football, making his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro team in 2023.
After blocking a punt against the Patriots, Killebrew shared the story of Slater congratulating him after the game. Turns out, there was a chance the two could’ve ended up as teammates. Instead, Matthew Slater went back to New England, the only team he’d play for in his career.
