Joining Courtland Sutton as a starter-level wide receiver — but one south of the NFL’s top tier — to angle for a contract adjustment this offseason, Darius Slayton returned to work during Giants OTAs. A minor incentive update took place to bring the sixth-year pass catcher back to the team.
Rather than threaten Daniel Jones‘ job security and future in New York with a quarterback move in the first round, the Giants likely impacted Slayton’s by choosing Malik Nabers sixth overall. Slayton, who has led the Giants in receiving yards four times in the past five years, still stands to play a regular role in 2024. But the Giants also have Joe Schoen draftees Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt on the roster, complicating the Dave Gettleman-era draftee’s status.
[RELATED: Assessing Slayton’s Trade Candidacy]
Slayton, however, expects to remain a regular presence. But if the Giants were not planning to use the former fifth-rounder frequently, he would have welcomed a trade.
“I don’t play football to just play,” Slayton said during an appearance on Keyshawn Johnson’s All Facts, No Brakes podcast (via the New York Daily News). “I want the chance to show that I’m amongst the best in the game. But the reality of being a receiver is if you don’t get the opportunities to do so, you’re not gonna have the production.
“Obviously you’re trying to maximize your dollars. But at the same time, I kinda wanted to make sure it was known that if being here and me being a part of the offense — and being a big part of the offense — is not the thing here, then that’s OK. But we’d either like to move on and go somewhere else or make the investment that implies that I am that. So that was kind of where we ended up.”
It will still be interesting to see if Slayton’s role diminishes significantly, as the Giants will be aiming for Nabers to lead the way at receiver. Slayton has been a de facto No. 1 wideout for a team that has made some missteps at the position since trading Odell Beckham Jr., never exceeding 800 receiving yards in a season but eclipsing 700 four times. Slayton only commanded 79 targets last season; that ranked 52nd in the NFL last season.
Neither Robinson nor Hyatt have become reliable performers just yet, either, but the Giants have those Day 2 draftees respectively signed through 2025 and 2026. Slayton’s two-year, $12MM deal expires at season’s end. Even though the 27-year-old veteran returned to the Giants in May, he will probably come up in trade rumors — especially if Robinson and/or Hyatt take a step forward — before the November deadline. If the Giants wanted to move on before the season, no guaranteed money remains on Slayton’s deal.
Isaiah Hodgins, Allen Robinson and others are vying for the team’s No. 5 wide receiver spot, but Slayton — who rebounded from a rare rookie-deal pay cut in 2022 to sign his $6MM-per-year accord — is viewed as safely on the roster. With a few teams in need of receiver help, Slayton’s status will be worth monitoring in the months before the deadline.
Who wouldn’t welcome a trade from the Giants? Only worse place to play is the Jets. It’s not a coincidence they share a stadium…
MetLife is actually a good place to play when you get the crowd behind the team. The real s#!thole stadium is the one used by the Washington Redskins.
Fair point. By worst place to play I meant franchise why not stadium but I 100% can see how that’s easily confused
I hate MetLife. It took 1 1/2 of Nick Bosa from us.
they couldn’t even get the field right for the Copa America. I would be besides myself if I saw my tax dollars goto that s.show. No players wants to play just to tear an ACL
Thank you Giants for doing hard knocks. I’ve been loving this season. I always thought being a scout then a gm would be a dream job.
I like Slayton, but I don’t think that he and Sutton are equivalent receivers. Sutton is the unquestioned number one in Denver, and despite popular opinion, would be on many teams in the league. As much as Slayton has outplayed his draft status (and a few odd attempts by the Giants over the years to reduce his role), he is not a WR1 on most teams.
The Giants owe him, in my humble opinion, for what he’s done for them in these lean years (especially considering how they’ve, at times, treated Slayton as expendable), but I don’t see him as a bonafide WR1 in terms of role.
It’s funny because Slayton is always down on the depth chart when the season starts but by like Week 10 he is always the WR1 or WR2 for them due to injuries and ineffectiveness of other WRs. The Giants do owe him, but him staying on the Giants is probably the best thing for his career as he’ll probably end up getting a lot of playing time again. He’s also the only WR on the roster with any kind of established rapport with Jones.
I agree completely.