Darius Slayton News

The New York Giants are re-signing wide receiver Darius Slayton to a two-year contract with a $12 million base and $16.5 million max value. The Colts bringing back Slayton shortly after signing Parris Campbell to a one-year deal in free agency. Wan'Dale Robinson and Sterling Shepard are both recovering from ACL tears, leaving Isaiah Hodgins as the only other healthy receiver under contract for the Giants. Once Robinson and Shepard are healthy, Slayton will likely be competing with Campbell and Hodgins for a starting job. Slayton caught 46 passes for 724 yards and 2 touchdowns on 71 targets in 13 games last season. Hed led the Giants in targets per game (5.5) and yards per game (55.7), as well as average depth of target (12.5) and yards per route run (1.99).

The deal was announced Thursday evening a few hours after the Giants signed former Colts wide receiver Parris Campbell to a one-year deal. The team lacks a clear standout at the position but has decent depth on paper, though perhaps not so much in practice with both Wan'Dale Robinson and Sterling Shepard recovering from ACL tears and Isaiah Hodgins needing to prove he's not a one-year wonder. Slayton could be in the mix for a Week 1 starting job -- depending on the Giants' transactions throughout the rest of the offseason -- following a 2022 campaign in which he posted a 46-724-2 receiving line on 71 targets. Slayton has finished between 724 and 751 receiving yards in three of his four NFL seasons, with 2021 being the exception when he was benched for much of the year and managed only 339 yards.

A week after posting an impressive 88 receiving yards in a wild-card win over the Vikings, Slayton was nearly shut out altogether versus the suffocating Eagles defense. The quiet finish aside, Slayton appeared to be a good fit in coach Brian Daboll's offense, posting a solid 46-724-2 line on 71 targets across 16 games while averaging a career-best 15.7 yards per reception. Slayton's speed and the fact he just turned 26 certainly could make him very viable on the open market, which he's slated to hit at the start of the new league year unless the Giants opt to secure his services prior to that.

While it wasn't an efficient performance, Slayton provided the Giants with some big plays, including a 47-yard reception late in the first quarter that helped set up New York's second TD of the game. The 26-year-old wideout emerged as one of Daniel Jones' most trusted targets after barely playing to begin the year, but Slayton faces a tough matchup in the divisional round against an Eagles secondary that held him to two catches in their first meeting during the regular season.

Because the Giants were locked into the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs heading into Sunday regardless of how other games around the league played out, head coach Brian Daboll elected to rest several key players. Slayton appeared to be among that group, as the Giants didn't reveal that an injury was behind his minimal playing time. Expect Slayton to reclaim a full-time starting role in the Giants' wild-card matchup with the Vikings this Sunday.

Slayton entered Week 17 having averaged 68.3 receiving yards in seven contests since New York's Week 9 bye, but he couldn't get much going against Indianapolis. His final catch and target came on the first play of the third quarter, when he hauled in a short reception but coughed up the football to the dismay of a clearly frustrated head coach Brian Daboll. The Giants nonetheless went on to win the game to clinch a playoff berth, and with nothing to gain against Philadelphia in Week 18, it remains to be seen how long (if at all) they'll deploy Slayton and their other starters.