As a wide receiver for the New York Giants, Darius Slayton had a “passing” interest in the NFL team’s overhaul of its quarterback depth chart after posting three victories in the 2024 season.
The Giants signed veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston and drafted Ole Miss QB Jaxson Dart.
“It is an interesting compilation of individuals,” Slayton said on Thursday. “But Jameis and Russ are that veteran presence. Jameis is a wild card, though, just as a human being, so having his personality around is amazing. But also they both have great presence and leadership about them. You see the – age is probably a little rude -- the seasoning in both of them, the veteran leadership they both have. And also you have Dart, kind of the young kid. He’s kind of learning find his way, but he has two good mentors to learn from. …
“Free agency is always chaos. So I think we signed Jameis first, so that was, obviously, like great, cool. We’ve got a veteran quarterback who succeeded. Selfishly as a receiver, everybody who has been his receivers has ate, so I was like, ‘Hey, cool with me.’ But, obviously, then we went and got Russ a little while later. You add somebody who’s been a champion, a 10-time Pro Bowler, a true pro, and you look at the room, and then, obviously, we drafted Dart. So you have your young gun who’s at one point going to get his chance to shine and show what he can do. So I think we have a good compilation of guys.”
Wilson joined New York after his single season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, during which the former Super Bowl winner returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
“It’s been pretty smooth,” Slayton said about Wilson’s transition. “It feels like he’s been here longer than he has and I am sure some of that attributes to his experience, and he has a very clear vision of what he wants. He’s a very clear communicator, so as long as your ears work, all you got to do is listen and do what he needs you to do and the rest takes care of itself.”
Working with Winston, a former Hueytown High School star, is a unique experience, Slayton said.
“It’s so hard to describe,” Slayton said. “It’s just how I’m talking right now. He’d be talking just like this and it’s just the random thoughts that come to his head and they just come out. And it’s like we were talking about a slant, how did we get to Kentucky Fried Chicken? Just hard lefts. That’s how best I could describe it. It’s just random hard lefts, but then he comes right back on topic. It’s like, ‘Am I tripping or are you tripping?’ But he’s a really fun guy to be around. …
“He has the most unique balance I’ve ever seen of light but serious. He’s very serious because he is a quarterback, so he’s very knowledgeable, he’s very serious when he needs to be serious. But at the same time he has a light energy about him, so it keeps people calm.”
Dart joined the Giants in the first round of the NFL Draft on April 24 after he threw for 4,279 yards and 29 touchdowns at Ole Miss in 2024.
“OTAs are so much information in for a quarterback,” Slayton said. “It’s super hard. But he’s done a good job of coming along. He seems like a smart kid. He definitely can spin it, for sure. You can see the arm talent without a doubt, so I think he’s got a chance to be a good football player.”
Six seasons after joining New York as a fifth-round draft pick from Auburn, Slayton ranks 17th in franchise history with 259 receptions. Only one of the players ahead of him has a better per-catch average than Slayton’s career mark of 15.0. Slayton thinks his deep-ball ability dovetails with one of Wilson’s strongest attributes.
“He has amazing talent with the ball -- accuracy, great touch on the deep balls,” Slayton said. “I don’t really know that he’s missed more than one or two deep balls this whole camp. … I love going deep. That’s kind of how I made my name, so to speak, in the league was making plays down the field.”
Over the past six seasons, Slayton is among the four NFL players with at least 250 receptions and an average gain of 15 yards per catch. The others are Justin Jefferson, AJ Brown and Mike Williams.
Slayton was headed toward free agency this offseason, but he re-signed with the Giants for a three-year, $36 million contract.
“I was confident in the direction that we were going to go in,” Slayton said. “And, obviously, once we make the acquisitions, obviously a lot of people mostly focus on the quarterback position. Once we acquire the guys we have now that obviously just raised the confidence level of ‘All right, we have a chance to be a really, really good offense.”
New York will conclude its offseason program with mandatory minicamp on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Slayton has been working in a new number this offseason. After wearing No. 86 throughout his NFL career, he has switched to No. 18 for 2025.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.