Kadarius Toney has garnered most of the headlines for the Giants recently, but he’s not the only wideout who could soon be on his way out of New York. According to Dan Duggan of the Athletic, Darius Slayton is being shopped around by the team (subscription required). 
[RELATED: Giants Willing To Trade Toney]
Slayton, 25, has been involved in trade discussions before. In the run-up to last season’s trade deadline, the Giants began receiving calls on his availability. They didn’t end up dealing him, but New Orleans was named as a team which attempted to strike a deal. In a disappointing 2021 season, Slayton totalled 26 catches for 339 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
In his two other seasons in the NFL, however, the Auburn product put up encouraging numbers. His receptions (48 and 50) and yardage (740 and 751) totals were almost identical between 2019 and 2020, though he found the endzone much more frequently in his rookie campaign. That made him part of the cause for optimism surrounding the Giants’ passing game this past season, but the team ranked 31st in the league through the air.
As Duggan notes, Slayton’s usage earned him the proven performance escalator, which has direct financial consequences for the coming season. After three years of six-figure cap hits, that number will increase to just under $2.6MM in 2022. That makes him much less affordable for New York – which, after a slew of cost-cutting measures, still faces a tight cap situation – and less attractive to any potential trade partner. Duggan writes that it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Slayton cut from the roster if a trade doesn’t materialize.
The Giants are well-positioned if they wish to re-shape their WR room this week via the draft. Especially if they add significantly to the position, Slayton could soon find himself in a new NFL home.
Giants aiming for new strategy of rostering zero wide receivers and 15 running backs?
They haven’t traded anyone yet but we all know that their WR corps was one of the highest paid in the league last year. They’re probably just trying to cut some of that salary. No one is going to trade for Golladay and they just had Shepard take a big pay cut. Toney and Slayton are the only tradeable quantities.
Good input. I was (as I often am) being partly sarcastic, but you’re right, and I think that they have too much money tied up in that position if they want to fill other roster holes. Now, whether they find any takers for Toney, Slayton or anyone else at the desired price, that’s another story.
I know Schoen said that no one was safe, but man, you have to wonder who would be available next year, and what the mindset will be like for whomever stays. Would they even want to try and play for a team that didn’t care if they left? Schoen has a long term vision for the Giants, and the roster is in a bad spot, but it will probably take a while to rebuild that culture going forward.
Hasn’t he been effective in the slot? Steelers could do worse depending on how Day 1 & 2 of the draft break.
The Giants need to find a taker for Barkley that was Gettleman biggest mistake.
You would say that Barkley was a bigger mistake than Nate Solder?
Barkley had an all time great rookie season and was on his way to a great sophomore season until injuries took over. Solder was a disaster from day one. Jones at this point is also much more of a blunder than Barkley, though that could change if he somehow plays well this year. Deandre Baker is also a bigger mistake. Barkley is probably not even Top 10 on Gettleman’s list of mistakes.
Agreed on Barkley. That wasn’t a mistake, that’s bad luck with injuries. I’m not one of those who subscribes to the “don’t draft a RB in the first round” theory, it’s it the right RB and the right situation. Barkley was everything they wanted until injuries hit, and who knows maybe he still will be (I hope so, I’m from the Penn State area and no one here has ever said a bad word about the man).
Steelers could do a lot worse but WR is one position where they’ve drafted very well even in later rounds. Now if Slayton was a free agent I’d be very interested, but the Steelers did just sign Boykin and are likely to draft a WR regardless, so I don’t see them making a deal for Slayton.
Yeah I guess I’m saying if after the first 3 rounds they somehow haven’t…do you really want to rely on a late rd pick to step in snd take slot reps?
Boykin has an inside track to a roster spot, but he still needs to make the team. He can play “big slot” if I’m not mistaken, but isn’t Slayton a bit shiftier?
Boykin is a roll of the dice, no more… a good roll of the dice, I like the move, but they aren’t relying on him. But they do also have Anthony Miller, Steven Sims and Cody White, plus they always draft one whether they need to or not. They’re already without a pick in the 5th too.
I don’t know much about Slayton but I like what I know, and I do think I remember him doing well in the slot for the Giants. I just don’t think it’s super likely the Steelers would trade draft capital for him… but I wouldn’t be against the move either depending on the cost.
Slayton actually played a lot outside. Jones does not have a great deep ball unfortunately, but Slayton made some plays from the outside as well, so I wouldn’t think that he is strictly a slot guy.
He’s not a slot receiver. He’s an outside stretch the field who ran a 4.4 at the combine. Plus other than his rookie year he gets the dropsies more often then not.
Howie, you gotta make this happen for the mems
Trade Toney, trade Slayton, yet keep Sterling Shepard, the last Giant remaining from the Boat Trip.
Odell Beckham is grinning like a Cheshire cat at that ugly mess in East Rutherford.