Tag: Darius Slayton

Giants’ Darius Slayton has had trade suitors: ‘I just chose to be here’

New York Giants WR Darius Slayton says several teams were interested in trading for him over the years but he’s chosen to remain in blue.

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen told reporters this spring that trading wide receiver Darius Slayton “was never an option.” Instead, they added incentives to his contract, ending a very short-lived holdout.

Despite that, NFL analysts had and continue to list Slayton as a potential trade candidate. And perhaps that’s because there are interested parties out there.

Slayton revealed to Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News that several teams have been interested in trading for him over the years but he ultimately chose to return to the Giants.

“People wanted to trade for me,” Slayton said. “People don’t trade for bad players, or people don’t trade for people who haven’t played good ball in this league. So it’s not like I couldn’t have been elsewhere. I just chose to be here.

“At the end of the day, that means something. I know who I am. I know what I’ve done. I know the caliber of player that I am, and hopefully I get a chance to show that this year.”

Slayton has been the Giants’ most consistent receiver since he arrived on the scene as a fifth-round pick in 2019. In four of his five seasons, he’s posted 720-plus yards and two-plus touchdowns.

In each of those seasons, Slayton led the Giants in receiving.

This year, things will change for the veteran. The Giants have a slew of young receiving talent, including first-round pick Malik Nabers, who has displayed explosive traits in practice.

Despite the presence of Nabers, Wan’Dale Robinson, and Jalin Hyatt, Slayton has no plans to slide down the depth chart.

“I’m six years in, and I’ve only been here for six years. So there’s a wealth of game and practice data analytics on me as a Giant, versus Malik’s been here all of a couple months, Jalin’s been here one season. Wan’dale’s been here really, technically one season because he got hurt,” Slayton said.

The Giants seem intent on Slayton having a significant offensive role, so it will be interesting to see how they divvy up the pie.

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Giants named a trade fit for former NFC East rival quarterback

The New York Giants have been named a pre-training camp trade fit for a former NFC East rival quarterback.

The New York Giants appear set at quarterback entering the 2024 season with a healthy Daniel Jones starting and a pair of quality backups in Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito.

If Jones were to suffer an injury, Lock would likely assume the starting role with DeVito serving as his backup and Nathan Rourke stepping in as QB3.

For some, that group doesn’t inspire much confidence and there’s a belief the Giants and general manager Joe Schoen could scour the market looking for another body. At least that’s what Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report thinks.

Knox recently compiled a “trade block big board” ahead of training camp and named the Giants as a possible trade destination for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Taylor Heinicke, who previously played for the Washington Commanders.

Heinicke can likely be had for a price. A Day 3 draft pick would probably get a deal done right now, as moving Heinicke would also save Atlanta $1.2 million in cap space. The Cleveland Browns flipped Joshua Dobbs and a seventh-round pick for a fifth-round pick last offseason.

The New York Giants could look for added insurance as Daniel Jones recovers from a torn ACL — that’s where the Cardinals were with Kyler Murray when they traded for Dobbs. The Las Vegas Raiders could have interest in Heinicke if they aren’t thrilled with how the competition between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew is unfolding.

The problem with Knox’s thinking is that Jones will avoid the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to start training camp and is not expected to have any restrictions.

Moreover, the Giants invested too heavily in Lock (one year, $5 million) to trade a future draft asset to crowd the room. The team also likes DeVito, who has seemingly taken a major step forward in his development this offseason.

Knox also lists wide receiver Darius Slayton as a top trade candidate, but that won’t happen. The Giants added additional incentives to his contract this offseason, believing that he will be a large part of their offense.

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Giants ranked near bottom of NFL in skill position talent

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranks the New York Giants 29th in the NFL in combined wide receiver, tight end and running back talent.

The New York Giants have been criticized for their thin roster the past few years, a trend that will continue unless they can change minds with their play on the field.

In a recent list of NFL team’s wide receiver, tight end, and running back talent for the 2024 season, ESPN’s Bill Barnwell ranked Big Blue 29th in the league.

That is down from last year’s ranking (27th) but a notch above the No. 30 rating of 2022.

Barnwell notes the loss of star running back Saquon Barkley in free agency could be offset by the addition of top draft pick Malik Nabers, a wide receiver from LSU.

Barkley is talented but was often injured and Nabers will have to excel for this swap to work out for the Giants.

If Nabers is anything short of spectacular as a rookie, this won’t be a pretty offense. Devin Singletary had a decent 2023 season with the Texans, but it’s going to be much harder for him without C.J. Stroud and a devastatingly efficient passing attack. Darren Waller retired and wasn’t really replaced. I’ve always felt Darius Slayton was underrated and underappreciated as a deep threat, but he’s probably not an every-down receiver in better offenses. I don’t know why Allen Robinson is still in the league. Wan’Dale Robinson has been strictly a gadget guy over his first two seasons, and Jalin Hyatt’s offseason hype has revolved around knowing where to line up before the snap in Year 2.

Some clarity on this analysis. The Giants are backfilling the loss of Barkley with a committee approach at running back. Singletary is the top back in the rotation at the moment, but there are others (Eric Gray and rookie Tyrone Tracy), who the team are high on.

Nabers joins Hyatt and Robinson — both recent Day 2 draft picks — in an eclectic, but interesting trio of young talent at receiver. Of course, they have yet to hit the field and no one can predict how they will click.

Waller was replaced. The Giants anticipated his retirement by signing Chris Manhertz and Jack Stoll in free agency and then selecting Penn State’s Theo Johnson in the draft.

Manhertz and Stoll are basically backups but Johnson has the same physical dimensions as Waller and is an interesting add that could surprise as a rookie.

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Wild Bleacher Report prediction: Giants tank, trade Bobby Okereke in 2024

Bleacher Report offers up a wild 2024 prediction, saying the New York Giants intentionally tank and trade LB Bobby Okereke. Um. Ok.

The 2024 NFL regular season is still months away and there’s nothing much to do or talk about until training camps open at the end of July.

Until then, there’s going to be a lot of speculation and predictions on the net and airwaves that are going to attempt to fill the void.

One such article from Brad Gagnon of Bleacher Report has the New York Giants “tanking” for a top draft pick and also trading star linebacker Bobby Okereke (or wide receiver Darius Slayton).

In other words, the Giants admit — just a year-and-a-half after giving him a huge new contract — that quarterback Daniel Jones isn’t the answer. And if that’s the case, the team likely knows it has to gain more draft capital to land that next franchise QB.

The “problem” is there is plenty of talent outside of that potential for Big Blue, with Malik Nabers and Brian Burns sprucing things up this offseason on either side of the ball and most of a core including Dexter Lawrence and Andrew Thomas still in place.

The Giants might accidentally compete, even if Jones continues to be ineffective. That could force the organization to tank down the stretch, the first chapter of which would come with a trade involving a veteran like Darius Slayton or Bobby Okereke as well as future draft capital in return for a potential top-five pick.

As we’ve discussed before, “tanking” is difficult to do in the NFL as the game cannot be played at less than full speed. There are also jobs on the line from the roster to the front office that the incumbents would like to keep. Nobody intentionally loses in the NFL, especially not a John Mara-run team.

As for the trade piece, Slayton could surely be traded — especially if one or more of the young wideouts break out — but he’s in the final year of his contract and won’t garner much in return.

Okereke is in the second year of a four-year deal, and if he plays as well as he did last season, he’s worth the $10 million per. Not sure the Giants would deal a top linebacker in his prime.

So, yeah. No.

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PFF continues to hammer Giants, ranks their receivers among NFL’s worst

Pro Football Focus ranks the New York Giants’ receivers among the worst in football headed into the 2024 season.

The New York Giants made a significant upgrade to their wide receivers crops this offseason, selecting LSU’s Malik Nabers in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.

Nabers, who flashed throughout the spring, is expected to come in and take over the No. 1 role, which the Giants have struggled to fill since trading Odell Beckham Jr. in 2019.

The presence of Nabers takes pressure off the remaining wideouts, including Darius Slayton, who can finally settle into the ideal WR2 role, as well as the young upstarts, Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt.

On paper, the Giants suddenly have what looks to be a formidable wide receiver unit but Pro Football Focus isn’t buying that.

Because of Darren Waller’s retirement and Saquon Barkley’s departure, PFF believes the Giants’ receivers are among the very worst in football.

28. NEW YORK GIANTS

The Giants’ receiver room will go as rookie Malik Nabers goes. If he is a star, Wan’Dale Robinson, Darius Slayton and Jalin Hyatt could all look like great complementary pieces.

After Darren Waller‘s retirement, Daniel Bellinger and Theo Johnson are the main options at tight end. Subbing out the pass-catching abilities of Saquon Barkley for Devin Singletary is a downgrade, as Singletary hasn’t brought much in the receiving game in his career.

Barkley caught 91 passes for 721 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, which greatly padded his career stats. In the five years since then, he’s hauled in 197 receptions for 1,379 yards and eight touchdowns. He also has a career receiving success rate of 38.1 and a catch percentage of 72.7.

Comparatively, in his five NFL seasons, Singletary has caught 175 passes for 1,164 yards and four touchdowns with a receiving success rate of 45.9 and a catch percentage of 75.8.

How much of a downgrade is that, really?

Losing Waller’s potential hurts but even if he returned, there was no guarantee he could stay on the field anyway. Meanwhile, Theo Johnson looks to be a dynamic option who could surprise in 2024.

The 28th overall ranking aside, it’s clear the Giants upgraded their receivers this offseason. But they’ll have to show it before they get any credit.

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Giants’ Darius Slayton pokes a little fun at Cowboys fans

New York Giants WR Darius Slayton poked a little fun at Dallas Cowboys fans on Wednesday as minicamp came to a close.

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton had a little fun on his social media account with a meme that appears to be directed at the rival Dallas Cowboys.

Slayton makes it clear that he’s not pointing fingers but…

It would be funnier had the Giants had a little bit more success against the Cowboys in recent years. The Giants have dropped 13 of their last 14 meetings against Dallas since 2017.

Slayton has been with the Giants since 2019 and has been the Giants’ top receiver in four of his five seasons in blue.

In his eight games against the Cowboys, Slayton has 22 receptions for 279 yards on 37 targets with no touchdowns. The Giants are 1-7 in those games.

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Trio of Giants receivers injured on Day 1 of minicamp

Three New York Giants wide receivers were injured on Day 1 of mandatory minicamp — one more seriously than the others.

On the first day of mandatory minicamp, the New York Giants saw three players leave the field with injuries: Darius Slayton, Bryce Ford-Wheaton, and Chase Cota.

Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News reports that Slayton and Ford-Wheaton both walked off the field while Cota was carted off.

Slayton simply slipped while running a route, so his injury is likely minor and he can return to the field quickly. The Giants recently made adjustments to Slayton’s contract as an incentive to keep him with the team.

The other injuries were a bit more significant.

Ford-Wheaton signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent in May 2023. He flashed a bit early on but then suffered a season-ending torn ACL, which he’s currently attempting to work his way back from.

Any player being carted off is concerning. Cota entered the NFL on May 12, 2023, when he signed with the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent. Since then he made his way through Kansas City and Houston before signing with the Giants in January.

No one wants to see a player get injured, and no matter what time of year it is, it’s never a good time. The Giants are hopeful all three of these players can return to the field sooner than later.

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Darius Slayton named Giants’ most underappreciated player

NFL Media has named WR Darius Slayton the most underappreciated player on the New York Giants’ 2024 roster.

The 2024 New York Giants roster is filled with players who have yet to reach expectations and others who are hoping to finally break out.

One player, however, has been a steady performer in his five seasons with the Giants — wide receiver Darius Slayton.

In fact, NFL Media just named Slayton the Giants’ most underappreciated player.

As a 27-year-old entering his sixth NFL season, Slayton is definitively not a hotly anticipated rookie receiver who was thought of by some as one of the best players in his draft class. That would be Malik Nabers, taken by the Giants with the sixth overall pick in April. But Slayton — whose contract was recently reworked to included added incentives — can play an important role on this team. He’s never topped 800 receiving yards in a season, but he’s also only put up less than 700 once, in 2021, when he also made a career-low five starts, and he’s been a regular contributor to an often shaky passing game, putting up a useful 15.1 yards per catch in his career. This is a crucial season for Daniel Jones, and Slayton can be the steady veteran who gives the QB some security while providing space for Nabers to find his footing.

Slayton recently returned to the Giants’ offseason workouts after a short holdout over some contract language. The team and his reps agreed to keep the current content in place and simply add some incentives to increase his earning power.

This is the first time we’ve seen Slayton being named as an underrated player. In two former polls, linebacker Bobby Okereke was the choice as most underrated.

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Giants’ Darius Slayton named a cut/trade candidate

CBS Sports names New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton a potentially post-June 1 trade/cut candidate.

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton returned to the team earlier this week after general manager Joe Schoen added an additional $650K in incentives to his contract.

The agreement ended a short-lived “holdout” of voluntary activities.

“One, I’m glad Darius is back. When you look at the totality of the message it sends to the locker room, everyone knows there’s a difference between the personal and the professional and not blending how you feel about the person. We all love Darius. There’s sometimes disagreements between families, but you find a way to find common ground, which we did, and you move forward,” assistant general manager Brandon Brown said.

“We’re happy that he’s here, and we’re happy to keep moving forward with him. He’s back like he never left.”

Despite Slayton’s presence and the Giants’ very public desire to have him back, Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently listed him as a cut/trade candidate.

Skipping voluntary workouts in an apparent bid for a new contract, Slayton has quietly topped 700 receiving yards in four of five NFL seasons. But with first-round pick Malik Nabers onboard, he’s also expendable. Cutting or trading him would save the Giants anywhere from $3.8 million to $6.4 million.

The Giants wouldn’t give Slayton added incentives only to trade him away –this isn’t a Dave Gettleman operation.

Slayton continues to be undervalued on a national level and his ideal role as a WR2 overlooked. Even with Nabers now in the fold, joining Jalin Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson, Slayton very much has a place on the Giants’ roster and it’s highly unlikely they’ll look to move him.

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Giants added incentives to Darius Slayton’s contract

Wide receiver Darius Slayton is back with the New York Giants after general manager Joe Schoen added incentives to his contract.

New York Giants veteran wide receiver Darius Slayton returned to the team’s offseason workout program earlier this week after missing the first three OTAs over a contract dispute.

On Thursday, we learned that Slayton is back and happy after the team and his reps agreed on some additional contract incentives.

“I’m satisfied. We got what we needed to get done. Just looking forward to getting back to playing ball,” Slayton told reporters. “We just adjusted my contract this year a little bit. Just try to make it a little more lucrative. But business is business, and I’m here.”

Those incentives, which reportedly have a chance to earn an additional $650k, plus the team’s new additions on offense, may have had Slayton thinking about job security. The Giants used their first-round selection in this year’s NFL draft on LSU stud Malik Nabers and added veteran chain-mover Allen Robinson.

Let’s not forget the investment the club has made in several other wideouts such as Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt.

“I try to just live in the moment, live in this year, enjoying my time with them, enjoying my time around them. Who knows what the future holds? I can’t know it anyway. So I just try to be my best day in and day out,” Slayton said.

What Slayton’s role will be is also uncertain at this time. He’s been the Giants’ top receiver since he and quarterback Daniel Jones got here back in 2019 but the new additions have to be considered a major challenge to his status on the depth chart.

He doesn’t mind being part of a group as long it helps the team.

“You’ve got to be a little delusional. You’ve got to think the ball is coming your way every time even if it’s not,” he said.

Asked how Jones could change the public’s negative perception of himself, Slayton’s answer was simple.

“Win. Two years ago when we were in the playoffs, everybody was like, ‘actually, he needs help.’ The narrative comes and goes depending on how your team does,” Slayton said.

Meanwhile, the Giants are thrilled to have Slayton back.

“One, I’m glad Darius is back. When you look at the totality of the message it sends to the locker room, everyone knows there’s a difference between the personal and the professional and not blending how you feel about the person. We all love Darius. There’s sometimes disagreements between families, but you find a way to find common ground, which we did, and you move forward,” assistant general manager Brandon Brown said.

“We’re happy that he’s here, and we’re happy to keep moving forward with him. He’s back like he never left.”

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