PITTSBURGH -- The Steelers claimed wide receiver Adam Thielen off waivers Tuesday, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter, and waived veteran cornerback Darius Slay.
Slay and the Steelers have agreed to mutually part ways, the cornerback's agents, Drew Rosenhaus and Robert Bailey, told Schefter on Tuesday. In a corresponding move, the Steelers are signing cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. to the active roster from the practice squad, a source told ESPN.
The Minnesota Vikings waived Thielen, 35, on Monday to allow him to find a bigger role in what he said will be his final NFL season.
In 11 games this season, Thielen caught eight passes for 69 yards. He had a 1,000-yard season as recently as 2023, when he had 1,014 yards on 103 receptions for the Panthers. He has 693 catches for 8,380 yards and 64 touchdowns in 12 seasons.
Slay, 34, was a healthy scratch for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills as the Steelers opted instead to elevate Samuel to the active roster for the game.
At his weekly news conference Tuesday, coach Mike Tomlin said making Slay inactive was more about seeing what they had in Samuel, whom the team signed to the practice squad on Nov. 11, than it was about Slay's recent performance.
Fresh off winning the Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles, Slay signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Steelers in free agency and started nine games in Pittsburgh this season. He missed the Week 11 game against the Cincinnati Bengals with a concussion sustained in the loss to the L.A. Chargers, and when he returned for the Week 12 game against the Chicago Bears, he came off the bench as former UDFA James Pierre moved into the starting role opposite Joey Porter Jr.
Slay played just 20 snaps (30.8%) against the Bears, his fewest of the season other than the injury-shortened Chargers game. Slay finished his brief Steelers' tenure with three passes defensed, one fumble recovery, 36 total tackles and one tackle for loss.
With Slay inactive against the Bills, the Steelers had to turn to Samuel when Pierre exited with a concussion. Samuel, who went 14 months between NFL action as he recovered from spinal fusion surgery, wound up playing 28 defensive snaps (37.8%) and recorded three total tackles.
With Slay's departure and Pierre still in the concussion protocol, Samuel could be in line for even more work against the Ravens on Sunday.
"We liked some of the things that we saw," Tomlin said of Samuel. "And we'll make decisions about how we divide the labor up a little later in the week."
