Darius Slayton has seemed like the odd man out all offseason, but it appears he’ll get one more chance to make an impact for the Giants.
Slayton agreed to take a pay cut on Wednesday to remain with the team, Newsday’s Tom Rock reported. Slayton’s pay will drop from $2.6 million to the league minimum of $965,000, which saves the Giants roughly $1.6 million in cap space.
The 25-year-old wide-out has the chance to earn some of the money back through playing-time incentives, but it’s unlikely that he will be able to hit those benchmarks barring any injuries. Slayton had not been on the field for practice on Tuesday and that led to speculation that he would be cut by the team.
That had been the thought for the better part of training camp and through the preseason as Slayton struggled to create separation with defenders or really stand out. It seemed that things were trending in that direction even further as several other receivers started to stand out and teams began calling Giants GM Joe Schoen about trading for Slayton.
While he has struggled, Slayton had shown in the past that he has the ability to be an impact player on the field. He had a strong rookie year in which he made 48 catches for 740 yards and eight touchdowns and became a starter in his second season with the Giants.
Slayton made two more catches that season than the year prior and had 751 yards for just three touchdowns. His production dipped significantly last year when he had just 26 receptions for 339 yards and just two scores.
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The deal leaves the door open for the Giants to still try and move Slayton during the season, but Schoen did say last week that he would be on the team for Week 1. Later, he did say that if a chance to improve the team became available he would look into a trade.
“If there’s opportunities available that we need to pursue then we will, whether it’s Darius or anybody else,” Schoen said during his beginning of the year press conference.
