By signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers — and perhaps finishing his career with them — Darius Slay gets a chance to repay a debt to one of the franchise’s greatest cornerbacks.
At age 34 and a veteran of 12 NFL seasons, Slay wants to take on the role of a mentor to the young cornerbacks on the roster, particularly third-year pro Joey Porter Jr. It is something Rod Woodson did for him a decade after the Hall of Fame defensive back’s NFL career ended.
When Slay was drafted in the second round by the Detroit Lions in 2013, he spent some time living with Woodson, considered the second-greatest corner in franchise history, behind Mel Blount.
Slay and Woodson, the Steelers’ first-round pick in 1987, shared an agent.
“He was telling me always be healthy, stay out of the tubs, which basically means you’ll be able to play,” Slay said Thursday when he was introduced by the Steelers after agreeing to a one-year, $10 million contract. “He taught me a lot formations and route recognitions, and mostly he had me on the track, too. He had me heavy on the track.”
Woodson was a world-class sprinter before dedicating himself to football full time.
“Other than that, he really just coached me about ball and really just taught me about life,” Slay said.
A dozen years later, Slay is winding down a fair NFL career of his own, earning an All-Pro nod in 2017 and six Pro Bowl selections. And, given the Woodson connection, perhaps it is fitting that his final uniform could be the Steelers’ black and gold. He indicated before he was released by the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday that he wanted to play one more season before deciding on retirement.
“I’m very outgoing, and that’s one of the biggest roles I like to take, just helping mentor younger guys because guys did that for me,” he said, “so I’ve got to return the favor, and that’s how I do it. I do it with genuine love, not by force. It’s because I want them to be great.”
Such was the case last season with the Eagles on their way to winning the Super Bowl. He knew he likely would be expendable after the Eagles used their top two draft picks in 2024 on cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean. And, sure enough, the Eagles gave Slay his release rather than pay him $16 million in the final year of his contract. The confetti barely had been cleaned up from the Super Bowl celebration when Slay learned his time with the Eagles was over.
That knowledge didn’t stop Slay from mentoring the Eagles’ young tandem last season.
“I don’t think I would have had the success I’ve had without him,” Mitchell told reporters at the Super Bowl after a rookie season in which he had 12 pass breakups. “He’s been a big brother, been a teammate, I can come to him about anything. On the football side, he’s helped me a lot. In real life, outside football, he’s helped me a lot as well. Talking to guys from other teams, that kind of shocked me because that’s not always the case.”
With the Steelers, Slay will encounter a cornerback room that includes Cory Trice Jr., Beanie Bishop and fellow free-agent signee Brandin Echols. Slay plans to take the same approach he used with Mitchell and DeJean in Philadelphia.
“I was not forcing myself upon them as in, ‘We need to do this, we need to do that,’ because I’m a guy that’s a willing worker, and if you’re a willing worker, it’s easy to go,” Slay said. “We worked out every day, met up in the morning. We worked out on offense doing their drills. We worked out on the side of the field getting our stuff in. I like young guys that want to be dedicated to your craft. If you’re not dedicated to your craft, this is not the sport for you.”
The Steelers gave Slay a $10 million contract primarily because they believe he can be an upgrade over his predecessors. It is the third consecutive year the Steelers added a veteran from the outside, with Slay following Patrick Peterson and Donte Jackson. Peterson lasted one season before he was released, ending his illustrious career.
Jackson left for the Los Angeles Chargers in free agency, but the Steelers showed minimal interest in bringing him back. And perhaps with good reason.
Although Jackson led the Steelers with five interceptions in his only season, he didn’t fare well in other aspects of the game. According to Pro Football Focus, Jackson had the second-worst missed tackles percentage among all NFL cornerbacks at 24.4. He had 10 missed tackles on 41 attempts. Slay had just three missed tackles in 55 attempts, a rate of 5.5%.
Slay also received a 75.5 percent coverage grade in PFF’s subjective rankings (No. 12 overall) compared to 45.1 (No. 72) for Jackson. And although Slay didn’t have an interception last season, his 17 forced incompletions tied for the NFL lead, and he ranked second with 16 pass breakups.
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Slay credits the success he’s displayed in the twilight of his NFL career to working with Steelers defensive coordinator Teryl Austin in his early stages. In 2013, Slay’s second NFL season, Austin was hired as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. Austin remained with the Lions for four seasons. In his final year, Slay led the NFL with eight interceptions and 26 pass breakups.
“He taught me early at a young age, don’t use your talent as much,” Slay said. “Only use your God-given (abilities) when you need to. What he means by that is to come in the film room, so I kind of learned the game real quick and real early. People think I’m moving as fast as I possibly can, but I’m not because I just know where they are going probably before they know where they are going. That comes from watching film with TA and just trying to make sure I use my ability as long as I possibly can.”
It didn’t hurt that the Lions had future Hall of Fame wide receiver Calvin Johnson on the practice field every day to serve as a foil for Slay. Austin made sure to match up the duo whenever possible during the three seasons Slay and Johnson were teammates.
“He helped me become who I am today,” Slay said about Austin. “I always looked at him as a father figure.”
Now, it’s Slay’s turn to take on that role, and it’s one he embraces.
“I want them to always be better than me,” Slay said. “Every guy I ever had under me, my job is to make sure they’d be better than me — as a player, person, everything.”