Darius Slay unloads on Steelers, Mike Tomlin defensive scheme

Posted by Admin May 7, 2026 NFL

The Pittsburgh Steelers signed veteran cornerback Darius Slay last offseason, continuing a long trend of signing veteran cornerbacks in the CB2 role. Steven Nelson, Ahkello Witherspoon, Patrick Peterson, Donte Jackson, and Slay all had varying degrees of success in Pittsburgh, but the latter didn’t even make it through a full season.

Slay was released on December 2, 2025 after a largely poor showing with multiple injuries sprinkled in. In a recent edition of his podcast, Press Coverage, Slay went in on the Steelers’ defensive schematics and subtly blamed Mike Tomlin for those perceived schematic issues.

“I ain’t gonna lie to you, that Pittsburgh stuff… that s—t’s backwards over there,” Slay said via Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot. “That ain’t [Teryl Austin] s—t. TA ain’t teach none of that s—t in f—king Detroit. [We played] outside leverage every f—king call. That’s why you see when [Jalen] Ramsey ever got scored on, he’s chasing someone that’s running away from outside leverage.”

Slay added that the Steelers were coached to play outside leverage because the defensive line was expected to bat balls down if passes went inside.

“This is what these [coaches] were telling me – you play outside leverage, and if they catch a ball inside, it’s on the d-line because they’re so good at batting the ball down,” Slay said. “I’m not banking on that. That’s the only thing I did not like about the defense.”

Many fans and former players have expressed how predictable the Steelers’ defense has been for years. Former New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman said they always did well against Pittsburgh because the Steelers never changed their looks and New England always knew what they would do.

“You knew exactly what they were doing,” Edelman said. “And they still do what they did. They still do the same G—damn s—t [they did] when I was playing Tomlin’s defense. I’m like, ‘We still have linebackers covering the three slot?’ Every time we play Steelers, I have at least nine catches. You would think that they would change it but no, they do what they do.”

With a new head coach in Mike McCarthy and new defensive coordinator in Patrick Graham, there should be a slew of refreshing changes made to the defense in 2026 and beyond.

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