Giants Playmaker Expected to Have ‘Shrinking’ Role in 2024

Getty New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton could drop down the depth chart in 2024.

The New York Giants elected to reach a compromise with wide receiver Darius Slayton this offseason rather than trade him amid contract disputes. In the end, Slayton was awarded more incentives to stick around.

Despite that updated agreement, the former WR1’s role is expected to decrease in 2024 with rookie Malik Nabers taking center stage and both Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt potentially taking the next steps in their development.

Pro Football Network analyst Anthony DiBona first pegged Slayton as the NYG player most likely to “regress” on July 9, followed by an unfavorable note from The Athletic’s Dan Duggan on July 11.

During a pre-training camp roster breakdown, the Giants beat reporter detailed each member of the 90-man group’s expected 2024 outlook.

On Slayton, Duggan wrote: “Skipping the first six weeks of the voluntary offseason program was fruitless for Slayton. He managed to get only $650,000 in incentives added to the final year of his contract. He will need to have the best season of his career to reach any of the benchmarks that will trigger the increased bonuses. That seems unlikely with Slayton’s role potentially shrinking with the addition of Nabers.”

Hinting once again that the veteran’s production could take a dip during his sixth NFL season.

Darius Slayton Has Posted 700-Plus Receiving Yards in 4 out of 5 Seasons With Giants

Slayton has been one of the more consistent members of the Giants organization over the past five years. That’s probably part of why he held out briefly this spring — out of principle rather than a major increase in salary.

After being drafted in the fifth round of 2019, Slayton has exceeded expectations at every turn, quickly turning into a reliable pass-catcher for Eli Manning and Daniel Jones his rookie year. Not much has changed since then, as the NYG playmaker has registered over 700 receiving yards in four out of his five campaigns.

The one outlier being an injury-impacted season in 2021 (339 receiving yards over 13 appearances).

If made available, Slayton would likely get snapped up by a playoff contender looking to upgrade their WR2 or WR3 position, but he’s in a weird spot with the Giants. This regime didn’t draft Slayton — which is always important in the NFL — and they did pick his top competition for targets (Nabers, Robinson and Hyatt).

The veteran has enough of a rapport with his quarterback to have a decent season in 2024, but the opportunities may be few and far between compared to years past. That alone is enough to prove DiBona and Duggan right.

Giants’ Status Reports on Wan’Dale Robinson & Jalin Hyatt Entering Training Camp

As mentioned above, Duggan provided updates on every member of the current Giants roster on July 11. Here were his thoughts on Slayton’s top competition for snaps this season.

“Robinson had surgery to repair the torn ACL in his right knee on Dec. 13, 2022,” he stated, regarding the 2022 second rounder.

Continuing: “He said he didn’t feel like he had fully regained his explosiveness until a year later. Beginning Dec. 11, 2023, Robinson averaged 4.8 catches for 52 yards in the final five games of last season. Extrapolated over a full season, that would be 82 catches for 884 yards. When Cole Beasley was the [Buffalo] Bills’ slot receiver in [head coach Brian] Daboll’s offense from 2019 to 2021, he averaged 77 catches for 812 yards. The blueprint for Robinson’s role in this offense is clear.”

Hyatt’s exact role could be a little more interesting, according to Duggan.

“There was a lot of chatter about Hyatt being a one-trick pony coming out of Tennessee,” the reporter began. “His rookie year did nothing to dispel that notion. Of Hyatt’s 40 targets, 38 percent traveled at least 30 yards in the air. That was the highest deep target rate of any receiver in the league with at least 14 targets.”

“The problem was the inconsistency of his impact,” Duggan went on. “He was held without a catch in seven games and produced 73 percent of his 373 yards in three games. He needs to continue developing to become a consistent, reliable weapon.”

Hyatt’s development — or lack thereof — could be the single most important factor in determining Slayton’s level of usage in 2024, outside of an injury within the WR room.