The Steelers committed $10 million to CB Darius Slay, but that is no promise of the quality of his play. At 34 years old, he is much closer to the end of his career than the beginning. While we haven’t seen much yet, Mark Kaboly suggests his performance this offseason bears watching.
Of course, there isn’t much the Steelers can do if he doesn’t look like the Darius Slay of old. What exactly would they do if he struggled: start Cory Trice Jr. instead? If it came down to that, they would likely be in a pretty bad spot. It’s Slay or be slayed, and we have yet to see how sharp his blade remains.
A six-time Pro Bowler, Darius Slay won the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles last year. While he failed to record an interception in the regular season, he did have one in the playoffs. He did not make the Pro Bowl, though, and the Eagles released him after the season.
This is all why the Steelers were able to sign him for $10 million, of course. If the Eagles still thought he was “Big Play Slay”, he would still be in Philadelphia. But the Steelers aren’t going from strength to strength. “I ain’t confident”, Kaboly admitted on 93.7 The Fan. “I mean, I’m confident that he’s better than [Donte Jackson] last year”.
For the third consecutive year, the Steelers are relying on a veteran cornerback. In 2023, they had Patrick Peterson, who lasted one season. A year ago, they acquired Donte Jackson via trade. Now it’s Darius Slay, who plays a position that frequently sees a rapid, precipitous decline.
“You don’t know. I think he’s a good, decent cover guy”, Kaboly said of Slay, who will start opposite Joey Porter Jr. while also acting as his mentor. “But [at age] 34, you can go down the hill real quickly there. As soon as you lose your legs, and they can go pretty quickly in that spot”.
While Kaboly acknowledged there is little to see from cornerback play in OTAs in minicamp, he added of Slay, “That’s a guy you’ve got to keep your eye on in training camp, preseason, definitely”.
The Steelers have addressed their secondary very little in the draft over the past two years. While they drafted DB Donte Kent in the seventh round in 2025, they have focused heavily on the trenches. They did draft Porter and Trice in 2023, though, the former the 32nd-overall pick. In 2024, they drafted DB Ryan Watts, who unfortunately had to discontinue his career due to an injury he suffered here.
Darius Slay is the biggest addition the Steelers have made via free agency in the secondary, at least by contract. Arguably, they made their best move last year with the signing of DeShon Elliott. They are reportedly resigning him to a two-year extension worth $12.5 million.
The Steelers are banking on Darius still having another year of Slay in him, and perhaps he does. But once he doesn’t, he could fall off in a hurry. And the problem is the secondary doesn’t have anybody in great position to fill in. The Steelers might like Trice, but what will he look like playing 1,000 snaps?
