With the New York Giants at 1-3 and seemingly headed toward another losing season (and a potential franchise reset), Ryan Novozinsky of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com has wondered if the Giants could make out of contract players such as wide receiver Darius Slayton available to contenders.
Slayton addressed such chatter during a recent conversation with Novozinsky.
"It’s not the first time in my career I’ve been a trade deadline topic," Slayton said. "It’s probably like the third or fourth time. It’s nothing I haven’t been through before. Obviously all those other times, I still remained here. As for now, I expect that to happen once again — that I’ll be here."
Specifically, Novozinsky and others have linked Slayton with the 4-0 Kansas City Chiefs after they lost receiver Rashee Rice to what appears to be a severe knee injury. Ben Solak of ESPN noted earlier this week that "the Chiefs' wide receiver room was already widely thin" and that "Rice's 37.2% target share was second only to that of Malik Nabers (Giants) in the NFL" before the 24-year-old went down. With that said, ESPN's Dan Graziano later pointed out that "Kansas City has shown it knows how to win with what it has."
Slayton could have a chance to impress the Chiefs and other would-be buyers during this Sunday's game at the 3-1 Seattle Seahawks, assuming the previously mentioned Nabers remains sidelined through the weekend while in concussion protocol. Thus far, Slayton has recorded just 10 receptions for 122 yards with no touchdowns on the season.
He was guilty of a brutal and costly drop on Sept. 26 in New York's Week 4 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.
"It’s kind of one of those things that’s a 'cross that bridge whenever you get there' type of thing," Slayton added about his pending free agency. "Obviously, this is my last contract year and I plan to play out this full year to the best of my ability and help us win games."
Unless the Giants win at least three of their next five games, general manager Joe Schoen will have to consider trading Slayton and perhaps others who aren't franchise cornerstones before the Nov. 5 deadline.
