{"id":335767,"date":"2026-09-02T08:22:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335767\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T08:22:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T08:22:29","slug":"darius-slayton-isnt-done-proving-himself-to-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/335767\/","title":{"rendered":"Darius Slayton isn’t done proving himself to Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Darius Slayton pushes back against the public perception of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Making yet another Giants roster \u2014 despite questions swirling over his status \u2014 has to mean something.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe contrary to common belief, some studies would suggest that I have done more good than bad,\u201d Slayton said after practice Tuesday. \u201cOtherwise I probably would\u2019ve been gone with three different people coming here and evaluating me. It is what it is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Looking at Slayton\u2019s career is like carbon-dating recent Giants history. He played under Pat Shurmur as a rookie, spent the next two years with Joe Judge as his head coach and then the last four with Brian Daboll at the helm. John Harbaugh and his coaching staff are now Slayton\u2019s fourth since entering the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That he has survived all four regimes and maintained a role with the team, Slayton believes, is clear evidence of what he offers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Post reported that his spot was in jeopardy ahead of cutdown day<\/a> Sunday, similar to what he experienced at multiple points throughout his career. But once again, he has done enough to stick with a new regime.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He just keeps on surviving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the first time, probably won\u2019t be the last time,\u201d Slayton said. \u201cBut I really don\u2019t pay it too much of mind, honestly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There has been an inverse relationship with expectations and Slayton\u2019s performance.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewGiants wide receiver Darius Slayton during a recent practice. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

When expectations are low, like being a fifth-round draft pick or after he took a pay cut, Slayton has delivered strong production. But when expectations are high, like after signing his three-year, $36 million deal last year, he has underwhelmed. He was plagued by drops last season and recorded just 538 receiving yards, his fewest since 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s meant that Slayton, the longest-tenured Giant, has gotten used to uncertainty over his standing and the need to repeatedly prove his worth.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s mostly kind of been exacerbated by the turnover [in coaching staffs],\u201d Slayton said. \u201cAnytime there\u2019s new people, there\u2019s going to be that. Just for me, I\u2019ve just been fortunate to be here for four staffs. I don\u2019t take it personally. I understand that you have to show and prove yourself whenever there\u2019s new [coaches]. That\u2019s what I plan to do this year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NewGiants wide receiver Darius Slayton speaks at a press conference. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

Perhaps with expectations again lowered, his production will swing back to the other side of that pendulum.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He did not exactly shine in training camp and the preseason, though. After undergoing sports hernia surgery over the offseason, he acknowledged that he\u2019s \u201chad some bumps along the way\u201d and is not yet back to 100 percent.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But he is entering the second season of that lucrative three-year deal, and cutting him would have left the Giants with a dead cap hit of $12.7 million this year and $3 million next year. Trading him likely would have required the Giants to eat most or all of his salary. And Calvin Austin III tearing his ACL also created an opening on the receiver depth chart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Slayton did help his own case<\/a> with four receptions for 58 yards in the team\u2019s second preseason game against the Dolphins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was big,\u201d Harbaugh told The Post after that game. \u201cSo big, honestly I needed to see that. Probably other people, everybody probably did. You have to do it every year, you have to come back and keep doing it. He\u2019s been battling through those injuries so to see him step up like that and make those plays was really good.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

With his spot now secured, the conversation turns to his playing time.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo behind the scenes with Big Blue\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Giants by Paul Schwartz, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

After Malik Nabers, the pecking order at receiver is pretty fluid. Slayton, Darnell Mooney, Odell Beckham Jr. and Malachi Fields will all be vying for roles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJust another playmaker,\u201d Slayton said of where he fits in with the group. \u201cI feel like we have a bunch in the room, a lot of really talented guys that we\u2019ve added to the roster. I see myself as one of those guys.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For better or worse, Slayton has been a constant amid all the change around the Giants in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s adamant he still deserves to be here.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Darius Slayton pushes back against the public perception of him.\u00a0 Making yet another Giants roster \u2014 despite questions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":335768,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[3921,9,2683,11,10,22,319],"class_list":["post-335767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-darius-slayton","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-giants","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335767"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335767\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/335768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}