The New York Giants have several important decisions to make over the next 48 hours as general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll trim their roster to 53 men.
One of the most difficult decisions will come at wide receiver, where quality play from the team’s depth and injuries have made things a bit murky. At the top-end, little is likely to change. But at WR4, WR5 and WR6 (or more), who gets the nod?
David Sills and Alex Bachman have seemingly done enough to warrant a roster spot. But what about Richie James Jr., who is also a quality return man? And 2019 fifth-round pick Darius Slayton — does he stay or does he go?
If it’s the latter, Slayton admits he won’t be surprised.
“I don’t think surprised is the word. I don’t think I would be surprised now,” Slayton told reporters on Sunday. “Every year, it’s kind of like my fourth time doing this. I don’t know. I don’t really stress about it too much. At the end of the day, if it’s meant for me to be here, I’ll be here. If it’s not, I won’t.”
That’s a mildly surprising indifference, but perhaps Slayton wants a change of scenery. After all, things have gone south for him since his promising rookie year and the weight of the media pressure has certainly increased.
“I mean I feel like other guys can pass if they’re going into contract years or their fourth years. I feel like I kind of had a little bit of an example, I guess,” Slayton said when asked if this is his first true experience with the NFL’s business side. “An example of kind of what it’s like and how to deal with it. We’ll see what happens.”
Despite dealing with a bit of a hamstring injury this summer, Slayton still feels like he made enough plays to earn a roster spot.
“I definitely think throughout camp I made plays, for sure. I think I showed up in some spots, showed some flashes and hopefully, it was enough,” he said.
The Giants, who discovered quality depth at the position and need as much additional cap space as possible, may disagree with Slayton and his $2.6 million cap hit.
