Former Tennessee Volunteers defensive back Doneiko Slaughter was waived by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, ending a short stay on the 53-man roster that never really left the margins of special teams, via the NFL transaction wire.
Slaughter, an Atlanta native who spent four seasons in Knoxville before a final year at Arkansas, had been elevated from Pittsburgh’s practice squad for the first three games of 2026.
NFL rules cap those elevations at three, so the Steelers signed him to the active roster before last Thursday’s loss at Cleveland. He played one game as a roster player.
Across the first four weeks he logged 52 snaps, all on the punt-return unit, and recorded two tackles in the Week 3 win over Cincinnati.
For Vols fans, the transaction is another reminder of how thin the line is between a roster spot and a waiver wire. Slaughter was never a star in orange, but he was a steady piece of the secondary during Tennessee’s climb back into the national conversation.
He arrived in 2020, started one game as a freshman and finished with eight tackles and a sack.
In 2021, he played 11 games and posted 16 tackles. By 2022 he had earned a regular role, starting twice at safety and five times at corner in a 12-game season that produced 31 tackles, an interception and seven passes defended.
His 2023 senior year added 32 tackles and another sack.
Overall, Slaughter accumulated 87 tackles, three sacks, one interception and seven passes defended in 43 games at Tennessee.
He used the extra year of COVID eligibility at Arkansas in 2024, where he had his best counting season — 80 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble — then went undrafted in 2025. Jacksonville signed him and cut him in August.
Pittsburgh brought him in on a reserve/future deal in January, waived him at the end of camp and immediately put him back on the practice squad.
Injuries in the secondary gave him a larger preseason role; he finished with 10 tackles and a pass defended in three exhibition games.
Monday’s waiver does not close the book. If he clears, Pittsburgh can bring him back to the practice squad, the same path he took six weeks ago. Other clubs can also claim him.
Either way, the former Volunteer is back where most undrafted defensive backs spend their early careers: waiting on a numbers game, hoping the next elevation lasts longer than the last one.
