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.
2. Darius Slayton has a proven track record
Slayton is a proven NFL wide receiver. Despite being a fifth-round pick, Slayton posted the production of a first or second-round pick in the first two seasons of his career. Slayton has caught 124 passes for 1,830 yards and 13 touchdowns in his three years, while averaging 14.8 yards per reception.
While Slayton has fallen out of favor with this new regime, he provides something this offense clearly lacks on the outside: speed. Golladay, Sills, and Toney are the only other outside wide receivers on the roster, and Toney is the only one of the three with elite speed.
Golladay and Sills are big-body contested catch receivers who are a bit slower. Slayton has been the Giants best deep ball receiver the past two seasons, and with a lack of speed on the outside already, Slayton’s speed is a necessity for the Giants offense.
Daniel Jones with a DIME TD to Darius Slayton! pic.twitter.com/D2OmqisJ1h
— Bobby Skinner (@BobbySkinner_) September 14, 2020
1. It gives Slayton time to increase his trade value
Slayton’s time on the Giants roster could be temporary. The Giants could still look to trade Slayton before the Nov.1 deadline. Schoen has stated he wants to build the core of his roster through the draft, so it would make sense to trade an impending free agent for extra draft capital.
Now that Slayton is on the team, it is fair to assume he will receive a decent amount of playing time, especially with all the question marks the position group has. Even if the Giants are in playoff contention, the team can flip Slayton to a wide receiver needy team for a draft asset.
It would not have made much sense for the Giants to trade Slayton right before the roster cutdown deadline. Opposing front offices knew that Slayton’s roster spot with the Giants was in jeopardy, so the maximum return the Giants could have netted would have been a player who was on the bubble of another team’s roster.