When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Darius Slay to a one-year contract this offseason, I urged fans to temper expectations. The veteran cornerback was recently released by the Philadelphia Eagles. It's not that Slay was bad last year; it's that he was already playing on borrowed time.
At 34 years old, Slay is two-and-a-half years older than any NFL cornerback who saw the field in Week 1 of the 2025 season, accodring to Pro Football Focus. In fact, only one other cornerback older than 31 played at least one defensive snap in Week 1 (Xavien Howard of the Indianapolis Colts).
Still, there was hope that Slay would still have one more year left in the tank—and perhaps he does. But his debut performance with the Steelers was extremely discouraging.
In Week 1 against the New York Jets, Slay allowed a perfect 158.3 passer rating to quarterback Justin Fields while giving up two catches on as many targets for 41 yards and a touchdown. The veteran cornerback also missed two tackles in this game.
Slay didn't have safety help on the 33-yard touchdown he allowed to Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson, but he showed no recovery speed to get back in position and make a play on the deep crosser. Sadly, we might be witnessing the end of Slay's career, and the Steelers need to start formulating a backup plan.
The Pittsburgh Steelers need a backup plan if CB Darius Slay continues to struggle
The last thing the Steelers can afford to do is keep playing Darius Slay if he's getting them killed in the secondary. Over the years, Pittsburgh has had weak spots in its secondary that have been easy for other teams to identify and exploit. They can't let this happen if they are to have a good defense in 2025.
Unfortunately, the Steelers don't have many options on the roster at this point if things go south. Joey Porter Jr. suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1, while Cory Trice Jr. remains on IR with a designation to return.
If Slay has a few more games like the one we just saw from him in Week 1, the Steelers will need to pull the plug on this experiment. Pittsburgh tried something similar with a 33-year-old Patrick Peterson in 2023, but despite his reputation as a former All-Pro, Peterson proved to be a liability in his old age.
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If and when Trice returns to the field—and can show that he can stay healthy—he could be Plan 'B' for the Steelers at right cornerback. This would allow Jalen Ramsey the flexibility to roam at slot cornerback and free safety. Trice showed a ton of promise when on the field last season, but has been hampered by hamstring issues.
There isn't a perfect solution with free agency long in the rearview mirror, and we hope that Darius Slay can bounce back with strong performances the rest of the way. But just in case he can't, the Pittsburgh Steelers must already be working on a backup plan.
Slay's reputation and price tag won't matter if he can no longer stick with faster wide receivers at 34 years old.