How Darius Slayton’s Offseason Surgery Impacts Giants' Pursuit of Odell Beckham Jr.

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton will be sidelined this spring after undergoing core muscle surgery earlier this offseason, according to an NFL Network report.

Slayton will be sidelined during the spring, but he is expected to be ready by the time training camp begins in late July. That said, his procedure has cracked open the door wider for a possible reunion with Odell Beckham Jr, whom head coach John Harbaugh said he planned to talk with on Tuesday.

Slayton, who signed a three-year contract extension last offseason, has been a guy who seems to be fading from the Giants' offense.

He has seen his pass targets drop from 79 in 2023 to 63 last year, and with it, his receptions, which fell from his career-high of 50 (set in 2020 and again in 2023) to 37 last year, his catch percentage falling under 60% in each of the last two seasons.

A big issue with Slayton’s performance has been dropped passes. Slayton has 33 career drops, five of which came last season.

What does this injury mean for a Giants-OBJ Reunion?

Former New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. | Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

The answer is probably nothing. Beckham reportedly had a good workout before the draft when he visited the Giants.

But a potential reunion between the Giants and Beckham has to make sense for both parties, and with the Giants having added tight end Isaiah Likely, draft pick Malaki Fields, and veterans Calvin Austin III and Darnell Mooney to a room that is awaiting the return of a healthy Malik Nabers, it’s hard to envision a role for Beckham, who does not offer anything on special teams.

The one caveat here, though, is Nabers. If the receiver, who is recovering from an ACL tear suffered in Week 4 of last season, isn’t ready for the start of the 2026 campaign, perhaps then it makes sense for the Giants to reunite with Beckham, assuming that he doesn’t want an outrageous contract.

As for Slayton, he is owed $9.749 million in guaranteed money this year, which all but ensures he’ll be on the roster unless the Giants can swing a trade with another team, which, if done post-June 1, would yield a $12.911 million savings with just $3 million in dead money hitting this year’s and next year’s cap.

A flat-out cut of the team’s longest tenured player wouldn’t yield as big a savings–New York would save $3.161 million on a post-June 1 transaction and take a $12.749 million dead money hit this year and a $3 million dead money hit next year.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and X for the latest news, and send your mailbag questions to us.

Add us as a preferred source on Google