Giants' leading WR away from workouts, seeking new deal

Darius Slayton went from needing to take a pay cut on his rookie contract to leading a playoff team in receiving. The former fifth-round pick repeated that feat last year. Slayton is no stranger to being Daniel Jones‘ top target; he has led the Giants in receiving in four of his five NFL seasons.

Attached to a two-year, $12M deal that calls for a $2.5M 2024 base salary, Slayton is staying away from the first phase of Giants offseason workouts. The sixth-year wideout is seeking a new contract, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan reports.

This comes shortly after it became known Courtland Sutton, who effectively leapfrogged Jerry Jeudy to become the Broncos’ No. 1 target once again last season, was staying away in hopes of a better deal. Neither receiver can be fined for being absent from offseason workouts until the teams’ respective June minicamps. Unlike Sutton, Slayton is signed for only one more season; he is due for free agency once again in 2025.

Slayton, 27, responded to the Giants’ late-summer pay cut by leading the 2022 team in receiving by more than 150 yards. With the Giants missing badly on wide receiver investments Kenny Golladay (free agency) and Kadarius Toney (Round 1) in 2021, Slayton became vital for Brian Daboll’s first roster. The Giants lost Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson to season-ending injuries that year, increasing their reliance on Slayton, who went from being buried on the depth chart to accumulating 724 yards to boost the ’22 team to the divisional round.

The Giants circled back to Slayton in free agency, giving him that $12M deal to go with a Shepard re-signing and a Parris Campbell addition. The latter two wideouts made little impact last season, and Slayton continued to be Big Blue’s top receiver. Even with Darren Waller acquired, Slayton led last year’s team (770 yards) by nearly 200. In his prime earning period, Slayton will make an early attempt to do better ahead of Year 6.

Like Sutton, Slayton has been consistently in the 700-yard range. Slayton has four 700-plus-yard seasons but no 1,000-yard years. Similarly to Sutton, Slayton has not enjoyed great circumstances. Jones’ $40M-per-year contract notwithstanding, he has not given the Giants a strong option at quarterback. Issues along the offensive line have hurt the team, but Jones has just one QBR season in the top 16 and has cleared 15 TD passes in one of his five campaigns. Slayton leading the team with his run of 700-yard years is emblematic of the Giants’ aerial struggles. The Giants have not boasted a 1,000-yard receiver since Odell Beckham Jr. in 2018.

The Giants, of course, do not have to adjust Slayton’s contract. And the 6-foot-1 target’s place in the Giants’ receiver hierarchy may soon change, should the team address its receiver need by using the No. 6 overall pick on one of this draft’s top options. An offense featuring Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers or Rome Odunze would shift Slayton to the WR2 role. Unless this Giants regime has come around on Slayton — after reducing his pay from 2.54M to $985K two years ago — the Dave Gettleman-era draftee may need to prove it again ahead of free agency in 2025.

If the Giants draft one of the top three receivers, Slayton would undoubtedly see his role change. The team used a third-round pick on outside option Jalin Hyatt, and Robinson remains under contract for slot work. Unlike Jones, Slayton would stand to benefit from the Giants using the No. 6 pick to trade up for a quarterback while tabling their receiver need to Day 2.