Darius Slay played 10 games in 2025, doing so as a member of the Steelers. An intra-state move back to the Eagles was his intention upon being waived, but the Bills put in a claim. 
Slay declined to report to Buffalo, and as such he finished the campaign on the reserve/retired list. A return to the NFL could be in store for the veteran cornerback. To little surprise, though, Slay will only resume his career if he returns to Philadelphia.
“No team can call me but [the] Eagles,” the 35-year-old said in a clip posted to X. “No team can call me, everybody knows.”
After a seven-year run with the Lions, Slay enjoyed a productive run in Philadelphia. The six-time Pro Bowler was a full-time starter through his five Eagles seasons. He took a one-year, $10MM pact with the Steelers last spring as part of Pittsburgh’s decision to make a number of veteran moves in the secondary. Slay made 10 appearances and nine starts, being held without an interception during that span and allowing a passer rating of 108.0 in coverage (the second-worst figure of his career).
As such, the former All-Pro would likely face a weak market in the event he intended to gauge his suitors across the league. Nevertheless, Slay will focus on either a return to Vic Fangio‘s unit – one which still includes Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean – or his post-playing days. The Eagles also added Riq Woolen in free agency, shoring up the cornerback position. Philadelphia did, on the other hand, lose safety Reed Blankenship on the open market.
If Slay were willing to handle safety duties upon returning to Philadelphia, a 2026 deal may become more feasible. The team currently has $40MM in cap space, so finances would not be an issue if interest on this front proved to be mutual.
I guess he won’t be playing
Give him a chance in training camp if it’s an affordable contract. I don’t see why not.
Injuries happen, so if Slay is ready and available I would give him a call opposed to trading assets.
what an ego driven comment he made. literally no one was/is going to call him especially the Eagles. he’s going to pretend like its his choice to not play anymore. sad
Doesn’t matter, dude is cheeks now.
As someone that is new to following NFL and lives overseas can CB’s just slide into being safeties.
It’s just the last bit on this about him willing to play safety. It’s not like you’d say that about a WR playing TE or something.
It’s actually a fairly new thing.
Conceivably, a fast enough corner who tackles well and has decent coverage skills can thrive at safety but they are definitely different positions with very different responsibilities.
Malcolm Jenkins and CJ Gardner-Johnson are two of the more successful examples but there have been plenty of attempts over the last decade plus with varying success levels to do this. A lot of the time, it happens when a very talented corner like Jenkins or back in the day like Marlon Jackson gets too old to thrive at corner anymore or loses a step but it also happens with college corners who aren’t seen as fast enough or disciplined enough to thrive at corner in the NFL.
The complexity of modern defenses also comes into play here as many corners and safeties both play in the slot, at safety, etc.
sounds like he’s retiring
The list of guys saying they wouldn’t play for any other team…then backtracked…is getting pretty long.