Eagles put in a claim for Darius Slay, but the Bills had priority

The Darius Slay era in Buffalo has begun, as the Bills claimed the cornerback off waivers on Wednesday. Slay was released to make room for Asante Samuel Jr. on the roster. According to Ian Rapoport, Philadelphia did, in fact, put in a claim to reunite with Slay, but Buffalo had priority based on the 2025 NFL draft order.

In something of a coincidence, Slay was a healthy inactive in the Steelers' most recent loss to the Buffalo Bills. Slay played in 10 games for Pittsburgh, starting nine. He recorded three passes defensed, one fumble recovery, 36 total tackles, and one tackle for loss.

There were initial reports that Slay and the Eagles had mutual interest in reuniting. Now on the Bills roster, Slay will face the Bengals, Patriots, and Browns before a massive Week 17 game against Philadelphia in Buffalo three days after Christmas. At one cornerback spot, Buffalo has Christian Benford, who is coming off a career performance in which he had a fumble recovery touchdown and an interception on back-to-back drives against Pittsburgh en route to being named AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

The Bills have been rotating veteran Tre'Davious White and rookie Maxwell Hairston at the other starting cornerback spot, and It could open up an opportunity for Slay to earn playing time.

During the spring, the Eagles released the Pro Bowl cornerback with a post-June 1 designation. The move will save Philadelphia $4 million in cap space and end one of the most dominant runs by a cornerback in franchise history.

Slay started 14 games in 2024, recording 49 tackles (39 solo) and leading the NFL’s No. 1 pass defense. He also led the Eagles with 13 passes defended, marking the third straight season he has recorded 13+ pass breakups. Slay recorded his first career playoff interception when he picked off a Jordan Love pass with 14:52 remaining in the second quarter of the Eagles' 22-10 win over Green Bay in the NFC Wild Card game.

Slay is a six-time Pro Bowl honoree (2018, ‘19, ‘20, ‘22, ‘23, '24) named first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press in 2017, and Philadelphia could have used his presence at the cornerback position opposite Quinyon Mitchell.

This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Bills had priority over Eagles in claiming CB Darius Slay off waivers