The Pittsburgh Steelers made their intentions clear during the 2025 offseason: they were all in for a shot to compete in the playoffs. Mike Tomlin, Omar Khan, and the front office showed an utter disregard for targeting youth in free agency—instead opting for proven commodities to improve their defense. That was a mistake.
The biggest botched free agency signing is none other than Darius Slay. The former First-Team All-Pro cornerback and six-time Pro Bowler was part of a championship Philadelphia Eagles team before joining the Steelers.
Unfortunately, his performance in 2025 couldn't be worse for Pittsburgh.
Starting at right cornerback, Slay has been credited with allowing 23 receptions on 32 targets (71.9 percent completion) for 322 yards and three touchdowns, per PFF. This equates to a dismal 135.2 passer rating allowed. Slay has also been tagged with seven missed tackles in as many games.
Meanwhile, Slay's 56.1 overall grade from Pro Football Focus is on track to be the lowest since his rookie season, which was twelve years ago in 2013. Slay's abysmal 39.6 tackling grade through Week 8 is by far the lowest mark of his career.
The Pittsburgh Steelers made a critical mistake signing CB Darius Slay in free agency
When the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Slay during the 2025 offseason, it was with the expectation that he would be an improvement over the previous starting cornerback from the 2024 season, Donte Jackson. So far, this hasn't been the case.
On paper, Slay's performance has been among the worst starting cornerbacks in the NFL through the first eight weeks of the season, and the film tells the same story. Slay will turn 35 years old before the end of the Steelers' 2025 season, and he's two years older than the next oldest cornerback to take a snap in the NFL this season.
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What's most egregious is Slay's ugly contract. The Steelers were confident enough to ink the long-time CB to a one-year $10 million fully guaranteed deal. This is a move the team should already regret.
But it gets even worse.
If Slay continues at this rate, the aging cornerback is on pace to surrender 782 passing yards, 320 yards after the catch, seven touchdowns, 17 missed tackles—all while being on track for zero interceptions.
The Steelers need to pull the rip cord as soon as possible. While Slay is hardly the only player struggling in the secondary (the whole defense has been bad), his performance has stood out the most in a negative light.
At this point, it doesn't really matter if Pittsburgh decides to go with Brandin Echols, James Pierre, Cory Trice Jr. (when he returns to the field), or an outside option. Darius Slay has been awful, and this 2025 offseason decision from the Pittsburgh Steelers continues to look worse by the week.