3 reasons it was smart for the NY Giants to keep Darius Slayton
By Zak Musso
After plenty of speculation, it’s looking like New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton isn’t going anywhere. According to reporter Tom Rock, Slayton agreed to a pay cut to stay in East Rutherford. With this, the G-Men also created around $1.6 million in cap space.
Slayton, a 2019 fifth-round pick, busted onto the scene in his rookie season, catching 48 passes for 740 yards and eight touchdowns. Slayton followed that up by playing even better in the 2020 season, catching 51 balls for 750 yards and three touchdowns. After a terrific first two seasons in blue, Slayton’s brutal third season had him sitting firmly on the bubble for a 2022 roster spot.
Slayton’s Giants tenure started it’s drastic fall from grace when he dropped a game-winning touchdown pass from Daniel Jones in Week 2 at Washington a season ago. The two main problems that plagued Slayton a season ago were drops and injuries.
It was reasonable to assume the Giants would release Slayton this offseason, as the team would have saved $2.5 million in cap space by letting him go. Joe Schoen was able to work some magic and not only keep Slayton, but also save some money too. Here’s three reasons why this is a win for the Giants.
3. The wide receiver position has multiple question marks
The Giants wide receiver position has some big questions marks. While the wide receiver group is undeniably talented, it has significant durability and inconsistency concerns. Kenny Golladay, Kadarius Toney, and Sterling Shepard will be the Giants starting wide receivers this season, but all three have spent time recovering from injuries this offseason.
Golladay, has struggled all offseason and is coming off an offseason procedure for an undisclosed injury, Toney was great when healthy last year but battled with an unfathomable seven different injuries, and Shepard is coming off a torn ACL last December, and is questionable for the season opener.
Behind those three on the depth chart is rookie wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson and preseason superstar David Sills, both who are very inexperienced. The only other wide receiver on the roster that’s not Slayton, is veteran Richie James, who is more of a slot receiver and has dealt with multiple knee injuries throughout his career.
Slayton is a necessary insurance policy at outside receiver, a position the Giants only deploy three other players at.