New York Giants 2023 UFA Primer: WR Darius Slayton

Darius Slayton went from being buried on the depth chart to becoming part of a three-man receiver corps. But did he do enough to warrant another contract?

Darius Slayton, WR

Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 194 lbs.
Age: 26
NFL Exp.: 4 seasons
College: Auburn

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton is one of two remaining offensive players (the other being Nick Gates) that was a part of the rookie class of quarterback Daniel Jones in 2019. Coming out of Auburn, Slayton came with plenty of potential and was supposed to be one of the top wide receivers Jones could grow with.

After redshirting as a freshman at Auburn, Slayton went on to play in the remaining three years of his collegiate career, securing 79 receptions for 1,605 yards and 11 touchdowns in 29 games. His promising play led him to be selected by the Giants in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and from that point forth, Slayton embarked on a rollercoaster ride of a four-year tenure that saw more downs than ups.

As a rollercoaster usually operates to start a ride, Slayton had his best season as a rookie and rose to the occasion with a hot performance. On a total of 84 targets in 14 games played (nine started), Slayton reeled in 48 receptions for 740 yards and eight touchdowns (a career-high).

Over the 2019 campaign, Slayton had two big performances that highlighted how special of a talent he could be. The first was over Week 10, where Slayton caught 10 of 15 targets for 121 yards and two touchdowns against the New York Jets.

Three weeks later, Slayton showed up once again with another monstrous outing, securing five of eight targets for a single-game, career-high 154 yards and two touchdowns.

The very next season, Slayton received a career-high in pass snaps (583) and targets (96) but only came away with 50 receptions (to his 48 as a rookie), 751 yards (which was only 11 yards more than his rookie season), and three touchdowns. That said, Slayton had his worst seasonal performance in 2021, catching just 26 of 55 targets for 339 yards and two touchdowns.

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GIANTS UFA PRIMERS: QB Daniel Jones | IOL Nick Gates | RB Saquon Barkley | C Jon Feliciano | IDL Justin Ellis | RB Matt Breida | LS Casey Kreiter | OLB Jihad Ward | Sterling Shepard | IDL Nicholas Williams | DB Tony Jefferson | S/ILB Landon Collins | WR Richie James | P Jamie Gillan | WR Marcus Johnson | ILB Jaylon Smith | OLB Oshane Ximines | CB Fabian Moreau

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2022 Recap

In the final year of his rookie contract, Slayton met expectations in some areas but failed to improve in others. In a total of 431 pass snaps and 16 games played (11 started), Slayton produced his highest reception percentage (65.7) of his career, reeling in 46 receptions on 71 targets for 724 yards and two touchdowns. His best outing of the season came against the Houston Texans in Week 10, where Slayton had three receptions on four targets for 95 yards and a touchdown.

However, Slayton failed to surpass his rookie numbers again in 2022, despite receiving a fair amount of reps. In addition, the 2022 campaign now marks Slayton’s third consecutive season with six drops, his second straight leading the team in this category. For a position that requires you to make catches for a living, having a total of 18 drops in three years is rather concerning, particularly when the number doesn’t improve from season to season.

In the playoffs, Slayton performed well, catching four of eight targets for 88 yards, but finished with two drops. A week later, against the Philadelphia Eagles, Slayton caught just one of his five targets for just four yards, highlighting the inconsistency that continues to hinder his development in the NFL.

Why Giants Should Keep Him

Because Slayton has been playing with Daniel Jones for four seasons, he’s been able to form chemistry with the Giants quarterback, which goes a long way for an offense that’s still a work in progress. Though the connection between Jones and Slayton isn’t anything particularly special, it’s still something the Giants offense can build off of and is a connection that could be on the cusp of hitting its potential.

In addition, the Giants have learned that they can never have enough wide receivers, seeing how many injuries (and big ones) this position group has endured over the last two seasons. And having someone like Slayton, who’s already familiar with the system and quarterback, saves a lot of energy having to find a viable replacement that would also require time to build chemistry with.

Should the Giants bring back Jones and other key starters, they might not have enough left to bring back Slayton, who is expected to be among those sought after in a weak free-agent receiver class. That said, if the Giants can manage to re-sign Slayton to an affordable one-year deal, it might behoove them to do so.

Why Giants Shouldn’t Keep Him

The greatest dilemma with Slayton starts with his drops. Having six drops in one season once is already concerning. But to do so in three consecutive seasons highlights a problem that hasn’t improved.

But what’s marveling about Slayton’s career beyond just the drops is his inability to make the most of his opportunities. Despite getting many more reps and targets in 2020, he barely produced better numbers than he did in his rookie season. And even over the 2022 campaign, Slayton couldn’t break over the 800-yard threshold and didn’t come close to his career-high eight touchdowns as a rookie.

The Giants have been quite patient with Slayton for the last four seasons. And with his up-and-down play constantly resurfacing, Slayton could have very well played in his final game in a Giants uniform this year.

Keep or Dump?

As a team in this league, the best thing you can do for a player is to allow them to prove themselves by having them start or receive a lot of snaps. And in Slayton’s case, he got both over his last four seasons and on more than one occasion.

But did his numbers improve at all despite receiving the chance to play as much as he did? The answer is hardly. As a result, it might be time for the Giants to let Slayton set sail and look elsewhere as a free agent.

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