Now, Slay, who turns 35 on January 1, has apparently changed his mind per a report by ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter. According to Schefter, Slay “is unsure if he wants to continue playing and will not be reporting to Buffalo.” Slay’s agent, the one and only Drew Rosenhaus, reportedly told ESPN that his client “is honored that a first-class organization like the Bills claimed him, but he is going to take some time away from football right now and decide in the next few days if he wants to keep playing.”
It’s an interesting development, to say the least. After Buffalo’s claim made the rounds, a follow-up report shortly after by Ian Rapoport stated that the Philadelphia Eagles also placed a claim for Slay, who played four seasons in Philly as part of the Eagles’ two Super Bowl teams. The Bills’ claim was higher in the chain, thus denying executive vice president & general manager Howie Roseman and Philadelphia a reunion with Slay.
One might find way to speculating that Slay simply wanted to return to the Eagles, convinced no one else would claim him — or simply committed to a sudden retirement should a team other than Philadelphia jump into the equation. Slay will forfeit $350,000 in salary that was due to him over the course of the final five weeks of the 2025 regular season.
The Bills could also play hardball with Slay, keeping him on the reserve-did-not-play list. Doing that wouldn’t allow the Eagles to swoop in, and Slay would not count against Buffalo’s 53-man roster. There’s also another potentially interesting development here for the Bills (as pointed out by Mike Florio with NBC Sports), which could see them trying to recover a portion of the $8.745 million signing bonus the Pittsburgh Steelers paid out to Slay as part of the terms on his one-year $10 million deal in the Steel City.The Steelers took on $8.5 million of Slay’s salary in the form of a bonus upon his release.
It remains to be seen how this will all play out. It’s easy to see things from both sides, where Slay just wants to play where he feels most comfortable and in a system that best suits him. There’s also Buffalo’s point of view, where to welcome in Slay they showed a productive veteran who filled a meaningful reserve role on the depth chart the door in Ingram.