Perennial Pro Bowler Recalls Nearly Leaving Patriots For Steelers

Matthew Slater and Mike Tomlin would have been a perfect pairing, but Bill Belichick got in the way.

A 10-time Pro Bowler a five-time All-Pro honoree, Slater recalled when he nearly left the New England Patriots to join the Pittsburgh Steelers. Slater, who at that point was arguably the top special teams players in the league, visited the Steel City as a free agent in 2017.

“The negotiations weren’t going great so I told my agent at that point, once I saw how negotiations were going, I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to have to look to get out of here,'” Slater said when he appeared on the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast with former teammates Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski.

“I went down to Pittsburgh, took a visit there, really enjoyed Pittsburgh, really enjoyed my time there,” Slater continued. “And when I was in the airport on the way back I got a call from Bill (Belichick). He’s like, ‘What’s going on? I thought we were good, I thought we were on the same page.’ I was like, ‘Well coach, we’re not on the same page.’ And thankfully we were able to work through it and ended up finishing my career there. Then next year (in 2018) we won the Super Bowl so I’m glad I didn’t leave.”

Slater signed a one-year deal for the 2016-17 campaign before agreeing to a two-year, $5.2 million pact through the 2018-19 season. He ended up signing two more contracts with the Patriots after that.

Slater retired following the 2023 season after spending 16 seasons with the Patriots.

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