Philadelphia Eagles CB Darius Slay did not endear himself to Pittsburgh Steelers fans on Sunday. He got involved in a scuffle with Steelers TE Darnell Washington that he thought was going to result in some players getting early marching orders. But one thing did not change on Slay’s end from before the start of the game to the final whistle: His admiration for Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin.
Slay was effusive in his praise of Tomlin in the leadup to Sunday’s game. And he continued to praise Tomlin after the fact during his Big Play Slay podcast on Tuesday.
“Everybody know Mike Tomlin, you know what I’m saying?” said Slay. “One of the best coaches that ever do it. I love Mike Tomlin. Like, if I wasn’t playing for Nick Sirianni and the Philadelphia Eagles, he’d be one of the next coaches I’d be wanting to play for. Just because I hear such great things about him. I done met him a couple times. We had great talks, man. I respect what he’s doing over there. He respects my game.”
And by all accounts, Slay nearly did play for Mike Tomlin. During the 2023 offseason, Slay was in limbo with the Philadelphia Eagles. His contract never ended with the team, but there were rumors he could be cut. Instead, he ended up restructuring his deal to remain in Philadelphia.
At one point in the process, Slay was in contact with some of the Steelers players who were trying to recruit him if such a move became possible. Slay himself says he nearly went cross-state to Pittsburgh. But the Steelers signed CB Patrick Peterson instead, and Slay remained with the Eagles.
Maybe a future pairing is in the cards. But Darius Slay will turn 34 on New Year’s Day. Will the Steelers and Mike Tomlin be interested once Slay becomes a free agent? Who knows. But Slay would certainly be open to playing for Tomlin if the opportunity did arise.
