Super Bowl Champion cornerback Darius Slay is hanging up his cleats.
Slay played 13 seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, and Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a 6-time Pro Bowler and won Super Bowl LIX with the Eagles in 2025.
“Dear football, I wanna thank you for all you’ve done for me,” Slay wrote in a post on Instagram Monday. “I’ve been blessed to play the game I loved since I was 5 [years] old for an amazing 13 [years] at the highest level. Football was my peace, my joy, my everything. This game put me in a position to help take care of my family and loved ones and I’m forever grateful. It’s hard to say goodbye, but God has a new chapter for me and I’m ready to turn the page and start my new journey. To all my BigPlay fans, I will always appreciate the love and support y’all have given to me. I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Slay was drafted by the Lions out of Mississippi State in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. His rookie offseason was hampered by a torn meniscus, but he won the starting gig anyway. He appeared in 13 games but only started in four; he was benched in favor of veteran Rashean Mathis midway through the season, then suffered another meniscus tear in December of that year. He had 34 total tackles and five passes defended.
He won the starting job again in 2014, and this time held onto the job for the whole season. He racked up 61 total tackles, 17 passes defended, and two interceptions. In 2015, he had 59 tackles, 13 passes defended, and two picks. He signed a four-year contract extension in 2016, and while he only played in 13 games that season, he still totaled 44 tackles and had 13 PDs and two interceptions again, plus a forced fumble.
The 2017 season was a breakout year for Slay. He had 60 total tackles and a fumble recovery, and led the league in both pass defenses and interceptions: 26 and 8, respectively. He was named to his first career Pro Bowl and earned a First Team All-Pro nomination for his play. He had 43 total tackles in 2018, along with 17 PDs and three picks; he scored his first career pick-six. In 2019, he had 46 tackles, 13 PDs, two INTs. and a fumble recovery. He got his second and third Pro Bowl nods in those two seasons.
In 2020, the Lions traded Slay to the Philadelphia Eagles. He signed a three-year contract extension with the team and became their starting cornerback. He had 59 tackles, but his pass defenses took a hit; he only put up six PDs and a single interception. In 2021, he had 52 total tackles, nine PDs, and three picks, including a pick-six. He also recovered two fumbles, scoring off both. In 2022, he had 55 tackles, but his numbers against the pass ticked back up: he had 14 passes defended and three picks.
Injuries began to put a damper on his career from then on. He appeared in just 12 games in 2023 due to a knee injury that eventually required surgery. But he still managed to accumulate 57 total tackles, 14 PDs, and two picks, including a pick-six. Once again, he appeared in three consecutive Pro Bowls from 2021 to 2023.
He appeared in 14 games in 2024 due to a concussion, then due to the Eagles resting their starters at the end of the season. But he racked up 49 tackles and 13 passes defended. He added a fumble and a recovery. He was also part of the team that won Super Bowl LIX over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Eagles cut Slay in the 2025 offseason. He signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers just one day after his release, and appeared in 10 games for the team, putting up 36 tackles and just three PDs, and a fumble recovery. He was waived by the Steelers in December and claimed by the Bills. But he said he would not report to the team as he had already been considering retirement.
