The NFL has fined Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback Doneiko Slaughter $4,917 for unsportsmanlike conduct, a penalty stemming from taunting in the team’s preseason finale and announced as the club prepares for its regular-season opener against the Atlanta Falcons.
The fine was announced on NFL.com.
Slaughter drew the flag late in the second quarter of Pittsburgh’s last exhibition game against the Buffalo Bills. After covering a deep throw, he waved and flashed two thumbs down — a gesture officials flagged as taunting.
The league later classified the infraction as unsportsmanlike conduct and assessed the $4,917 fine, one of the smaller amounts on that week’s discipline list. Proceeds from such fines typically go to the Professional Athletes Foundation.
The timing is notable. Slaughter had only recently landed on the Steelers’ practice squad after being waived at the end of camp. He is the only Pittsburgh player the league fined across all three preseason games.
That distinction comes despite an earlier unnecessary-roughness flag in the preseason opener against Green Bay, part of a sloppy night for Steelers discipline that also drew comments from the coaching staff about post-whistle play.
On the field, Slaughter had otherwise made a case for himself. The 24-year-old Atlanta native played 104 snaps at cornerback during the preseason, second-most on the team at the position.
Undrafted out of the 2025 draft after college stops at Tennessee and Arkansas, he spent time with the Jacksonville Jaguars before signing a reserve/future deal with Pittsburgh in January 2026 and later joining the practice squad.
Practice-squad pay makes the fine sting more than it might for a veteran starter. Had the same flag come in a regular-season game, the amount could have been substantially higher.
For a young defensive back still trying to stick, it is an expensive reminder that the league office watches preseason tape as closely as September football.
The Steelers open the season against the Falcons, Slaughter’s hometown team. Whether he is active or remains on the practice squad, the message from the league is already on the books: celebrations and gestures that cross into taunting will cost money even before the real games start.
For a player still fighting for a foothold, $4,917 is a small line in the standings but a clear one in the ledger.
