Eagles Were Closer Than Expected to Darius Slay Return

The Philadelphia Eagles wanted to bring Darius Slay this past season after the Pittsburgh Steelers moved on from him.

It was known that Philadelphia placed a waiver claim on Slay, but the Buffalo Bills had waiver priority and were able to claim him. This offseason, Slay retired after playing 13 seasons in the National Football League. Now that Slay has decided to hang up his cleats, he also has opened up about the situation with the Eagles and Bills and the details are pretty surprising.

"Now that I'm done, I can speak on a lot of stuff," Slay said. "Yeah, I don't know what Buffalo was thinking. I told them way before, 'Hey, I ain't coming to Buffalo.' I just ain't. I love you. I appreciate that you believe in me but I'm not coming. It's too cold. Yes, I believe in Josh Allen. Yes, I think he can do it. Yes, I believe he can get us to the Super Bowl. I've got one already. I'm good. You know what I'm saying? I'd rather be somewhere comfortable like where I want to be at. What's crazy is I was supposed to be on a flight to LA and watch the Eagles play, you know, the Chargers. And I'll go fly back with the team Monday.

The Eagles star almost returned

Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Darius Slay Jr. (2) takes the field before Super Bowl LIX against the Kansas City Chiefs at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Darius Slay was set to fly to LA, join the #Eagles sideline vs. the Chargers, and sign Monday… then Buffalo called.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY WERE THINKING” pic.twitter.com/LkPdFSGZDA
— Laz🇱🇷🦅 (@Lazerus) March 22, 2026

"They called me Sunday when I was getting ready to book my flight to go down to LA to fly back with them boys because I was going to be on the sideline and all that. That's what they wanted me to come for. So, I'm like 'bet.' And I'll go be with the Eagles. Then, man, [the Bills] called me Sunday and was like, 'Nah, we ain't doing that. We will release you after we play them.' And I'm like, 'Alright, bet.' So, during that time that was like five weeks. I start running, start being in shape — I'm still in shape — [but then was like] I'm done. Because I ain't feel like going out there playing just one game and that was the last game of the year."

The big takeaways from Slay's comments are how close he actually was to coming to town. The fact that Slay said he was preparing to book a flight to join the Eagles on the sidelines against the Los Angeles Chargers and that he had previously told the Bills he wasn't coming in is wild. At the time the Steelers let him go, reports surfaced quickly about mutual interest in a return, but this is the first time he shared exactly how close he was to actually coming back.

His comments about Buffalo saying it would release him after the late-season contest against Philadelphia also stand out. The Eagles and Bills faced off in Week 17. If the Bills had cut him, there would've been one regular season game left before the playoffs.

Slay acknowledged that if he had returned at that time and been with the starters, his first game would've likely been in the playoffs with Philadelphia resting starters in Week 18. So, rather than forcing the issue, Slay opted to be done.

It was a fun few days back during the season as the reunion was a possibility. Unfortunately, things just didn't work out for Philadelphia.