PFF Names This Giant as Potential Roster Cut/Trade Candidate

Darius Slayton is far from a lock to make the Giants roster. But here's why people should slow their roll regarding his status.

Author:
Patricia Traina
Publish date:
Jun 6, 2022 2:05 PM EDT

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New York Giants

In their latest off-season series, Pro Football Focus took a look at all 32 NFL rosters to identify one player from each team as the most likely candidate to be a cut or a potential trade candidate this year.

Their pick for the Giants? Receiver Darius Slayton, of whom article author Brad Spielberger wrote:

There’s no difference from a salary cap perspective in moving on from Darius Slayton after June 1; this is more about how the 2022 NFL Draft unfolded for the Giants. The team selected Kentucky wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson at No. 43 overall, perhaps putting into question Slayton’s place on the depth chart.
Slayton was highly productive right out of the gate in 2019 after he was drafted in the fifth round, putting up 740 receiving yards and hauling in eight touchdowns as a rookie. That strong start to his career earned him an elevated salary of $2.54 million for 2022, but he’s coming off career lows across the board in 2021, including a 53.8 receiving grade and a 15.8% drop percentage on catchable passes, which ranked second-worst among receivers with at least 25 targets in 2021.
The Giants are undergoing a rebuild and have already moved on from important contributors, such as cornerback James Bradberry, as new general manager Joe Schoen works to clear the books and turn over a roster that hasn’t had a record above .500 at any point over the past five seasons.
Slayton represents an interesting trade candidate for teams in need of a quality deep threat who can take the top off a defense, and he could bounce back off a down year and regain the form he showed early in his career. Plenty of teams could use a player with his skill set, with the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans seemingly at the top of a long list of potential suitors.

While one can't sit here and say that Slayton is a lock to make the Giants' roster, the Giants look like they will give him a chance to compete rather than just dumping him to gain the $2.5 million cap savings.

The decision makes sense. For one, the Giants, who still have to sign both their fourth-round draft picks (tight end Daniel Bellinger and safety Dane Belton), have $6.222 million in cap space, which should be enough to take care of the remaining draft picks while still leaving them with enough money to get through the summer.

Slayton, who has seen his production decline since an impressive rookie season, is also unlikely to be going anywhere right now because of the receivers' current state in front of him.

Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, and Kadarius Toney are rehabbing from various medical issues. While all should be good to go for camp, that's still a long way off before their readiness crystalizes. As such, the Giants are unlikely to be moving anyone off the roster if there is currently an overall health concern at the position.

For whatever warts he has as a receiver of late, Slayton has been healthy and available this spring. He's also fought through some injuries the last two seasons, which may or may not have cut into his production.

Head coach Brian Daboll recently offered some unsolicited praise of the former Auburn receiver who has seen his opportunities increase with Golladay, Shepard, and Toney sidelined.

"All those young guys, some of the older guys, Slay (Darius Slayton) has done a good job for us," Daboll said. "All those guys are picking it up and doing what they can."

Slayton's rookie year had people buzzing about the Giants' 2019 fifth-round draft pick. Per PFF, he caught 48 of 80 pass targets (50 percent) for 740 yards, eight touchdowns, and a 48 percent contested catch rate, dropping only three balls.

WR Darius Slayton

Darius Slayton hauls in a pass.

Sep 16, 2021; Landover, Maryland, USA; New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton (86) is unable to make a catch against the Washington Football Team during the second half at FedExField. — Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Darius Slayton receives instruction from offensive coordinator Mike Kafka.

New York Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka talks with wide receiver Darius Slayton (86) during voluntary minicamp at the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford on Wednesday, April 20, 2022. — Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK

But in the last two years, Slayton has struggled. He's caught 76 of 149 pass targets (51 percent) for 1,090 yards and five touchdowns and has 12 drops and a 26 percent contested catch rate.

Over the last two years, Slayton, who mostly played as an outside receiver as a rookie, has seen an uptick of snaps in the slot. In the previous two seasons, he's lined up inside on 178 of his 965 total pass receiving snaps (18.4 percent, a massive jump from the 4 percent rate he was in the slot as a rookie).

Slayton also has caught eight of 18 pass targets (44.4 percent) for 144 yards, one touchdown, and a 55 percent contested catch rate with three drops when targeted as a slot receiver.

Combine that with the fact that Slayton hasn't been asked to contribute on special teams, and it's not hard to understand why his roster spot this year is far from being secure.

That said, there is more than a sliver of hope for Slayton. Given a clean slate with a coaching staff that appears to have done its homework regarding what players have done well in the past and what they haven't, Slayton is embracing the new opportunity.

"Yeah, I think it's a good chance for everybody to get a chance to get a lot of reps," he said. "Obviously, show what you can do out here when we are competing against the defense, so I think it benefits our room."

Slayton still needs to make a big jump if he's to get back to being consistent by embracing the "next play" mentality a little more than dwelling on what went wrong.

"Bad stuff is going to happen sooner or later. Nobody has a perfect career. Nobody has a perfect game, perfect day," he said.

"So definitely in our line of work where you’re catching all the time, and everybody feels like they can catch a ball because they've thrown it in the backyard, so when you drop it, you look like an idiot. The reality is we're all human, so definitely always have to keep a next-play mentality."