Bills player officially retires without playing a single snap in Buffalo

The Buffalo Bills made a great waiver claim when they found out that they were gaining the services of cornerback Darius Slay, who had been released by the Pittsburgh Steelers halfway through last season. At the time, the secondary for the Bills was going through injuries and getting Slay would give them great depth and a veteran presence as they were preparing for the playoffs.

However, in a bizarre turn of events just a few days later, Adam Schefter had reported that Slay was not going to be reporting to Buffalo and was unsure if he wanted to play in the NFL anymore. It was a move that almost no one saw coming and the Bills didn’t just not have Slay, but they ended up losing Ja’Marcus Ingram in the process as he was waived to make room for Slay.

So, instead of the Bills gaining an extra veteran cornerback, they ended up losing two for no reason which caused a lot of frustration for fans and the secondary was hurting. The Bills would eventually go on to sign defensive back Darnell Savage as depth.

It will forever be a “What if” moment in Bills history but quite frankly, no one can blame fans for being upset with Slay because it caused unnecessary problems for the secondary. However, Slay was still part of the roster as Brandon Beane did not release him so he wasn’t allowed to report to anyone except for Buffalo.

Now, Slay appears to be officially retiring from the NFL per his Instagram account per Ian Rapoport.

Darius Slay officially retires without playing a single snap for Bills

Slay had a great career in the NFL where he became a Pro Bowler and an All-Pro player throughout his career. He will also retire as a Super Bowl champ. He had all of his success early on but he still was playing solid football later on in his career.

It’s too bad what happened with him and the Bills because maybe he would have added a new element to the defense last season. While Buffalo’s pass defense was pretty solid, potentially having someone like Slay would have created more flexibility on what the Bills could have done on defense.

Bills fans surely won’t be affected by Slay’s retirement as he never dressed up in Bills blue, and it was done in a way that was a bit of an insult to Bills Mafia. However, there is no denying that Slay had a great overall career but it now comes to an end after a strange ending last season.