Bills pull off a massive steal and land former second-round pick ahead of crucial stretch of the season
An exciting update coming out of Western New York.
The Buffalo Bills aren’t done adding to their roster quite yet. While injuries to defensive end Joey Bosa and linebacker Terrel Bernard are at the forefront, the team made an exciting roster move ahead of the Week 14 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals.
On Wednesday, the team claimed former Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay off waivers. Since he was claimed off waivers and not signed as a free agent, the team will retain his original contract.
According to Over The Cap, Slay’s base salary was $1,255,000, and the Bills absorbed the proration of that amount. His $8,745,000 signing bonus had already been paid by Pittsburgh. Buffalo will only be on the hook for part of his base salary, another huge win for the organization.
The team also waived cornerback Ja’Marcus Ingram in a subsequent move to create the roster spot.
Slay was a healthy scratch against the Bills last week as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers and now joins the team less than a week later. The veteran, a former second-round pick of the Detroit Lions, adds another valuable insurance option to the team.
The team utilizes veteran cornerback Tre’Davious White and rookie Maxwell Hairston to pair alongside what should be All-Pro cornerback Christian Benford.
At the end of the day, Slay is a proven veteran in the league who can add valuable insight to the cornerback room. For now, the Bills got a great player in a low-risk, high-reward type move as they focus their efforts on a postseason push.
Steelers and Eagles experts weigh in on Slay
Rob Gregson from A to Z Sports Pittsburgh opened up about the recent decision, pointing to injury history as a reason the team might have moved on from the veteran cornerback.
“It’s not surprising to see the Buffalo Bills, who have been lean in the secondary, make a move and submit a waiver claim for Darius Slay. A high character player with a tremendous pedigree, Slay just couldn’t find his footing with the Steelers. Part of this is probably because those feet are attached to a pair of legs that have a lot of miles on them at 34 years old and over 10 years in the league. But Slay was also injured a lot.
“A concussion, lower body injuries, upper body problems, he was never truly healthy, and it showed on the field. When the Steelers made him a healthy scratch against the Bills (ironically enough), it felt like the writing was on the wall, and his release came just days later. In all, it’s a solid depth move and one that Buffalo can feel fine about.” – Rob Gregson, A to Z Sports Pittsburgh.
It wasn’t only Gregson who opened up about the move, as A to Z Sports Philadelphia writer Adam Holt discussed how the Bills “sniped” Slay through the waiver process.
“In honor of the recent Call of Duty release, I’ll use a piece of that lingo here. The Bills may have ‘sniped’ the Eagles with this claim of Slay. The veteran defensive back spent five years with Philadelphia before getting released this spring. The Eagles liked their depth enough to move on and save some money in the long run.
“Now, the Eagles’ secondary is really struggling with depth concerns. Adoree’ Jackson has been far too inconsistent, no matter his role. Outside of Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, the CB position is a murky one for Philly, so bringing back Slay made plenty of sense for depth. Not to mention, his wife even mentioned Philly in a recent post on X/Twitter ahead of the news breaking regarding Buffalo’s claim. All in all, the Bills may have prevented a notable reunion for an NFC contender.” – Adam Holt, A to Z Sports Philadelphia.
The addition of Slay is deadly and should have the league worried. Ahead of the move, Buffalo’s pass defense was No. 1 in the league in terms of yards allowed, and adding Slay only bolsters that already impressive unit.
Quite the steal from the Bills front office in landing Slay. What comes next will depend on how quickly Slay acclimates and whether the Bills feel comfortable adjusting their secondary rotations. Either way, Buffalo found a low-cost way to bolster a unit at a critical point of the season.
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