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Darius Slayton

NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Commanders, Staff, Toney, Giants, Eagles

June 17th, 2022 at 12:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys and Commanders each ran afoul of NFL offseason rules during their OTA workouts this year. As a result, each team will lose 2023 practice time and each squad’s head coach received a six-figure fine. Both Mike McCarthy and Ron Rivera received $100K fines for workouts deemed over the line, the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins and ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano note (Twitter link). Washington will be short two OTA days in 2023 due to excessive contact. This marks the second consecutive year McCarthy received a fine for offseason overwork. He received a $50K fine last year, with the Cowboys being docked $100K and a 2022 OTA for 2021 violations. The Cowboys will be docked one OTA day in 2023. OTAs do not hold the role they once did, and teams have begun to limit offseason activities on their own. The Eagles will go into training camp after not holding a mandatory minicamp. But Dallas and Washington will need to make minor adjustments to their 2023 offseason schedules.

Here is the latest from the NFC East:

  • Injuries wrecked the Giants‘ offense last season, sidelining starters at just about every position. Some new issues cropped up this offseason. Neither Kenny Golladay nor Kadarius Toney participated fully at any point during Big Blue’s offseason program, per NJ.com’s Zack Rosenblatt, who adds Toney is dealing with a new knee injury (Golladay’s issue is unknown). Toney injuries have become a recurring problem for the Giants. Ankle, oblique and quadriceps issues limited Toney to 10 games last season, one that began after he missed most of training camp due to a hamstring problem. This year’s camp becomes more important for the 2021 first-rounder as a result of last year’s run of setbacks.
  • Toney still projects as part of Brian Daboll‘s first 53-man roster; Darius Slayton might not. The Dave Gettleman-era investment has been mentioned in trade rumors, and The Athletic’s Dan Duggan views the former fifth-round pick as unlikely to be part of this year’s Giants edition (subscription required). The Giants are likely to continue shopping Slayton up until cut day, Duggan adds, as he would be their No. 5 receiver if everyone is healthy. Almost no one in the team’s top four (Golladay, Toney, Sterling Shepard, Wan’Dale Robinson) being healthy could point to Slayton staying. Shepard is still recovering from the Achilles tear he suffered last season. A two-time 700-yard receiver, Slayton is due a $2.54MM salary in 2022.
  • Both Shane Lemieux and Nick Gates were lost for the season early in the Giants’ miserable 2021 slate. While Lemieux is favored to start at left guard this season, Rosenblatt notes Gates might not return to action at all this season. This is not an out-of-the-blue development. Then-HC Joe Judge said Gates’ leg fracture sustained in Week 2 of last season could be career-threatening. That said, a report earlier this year gave Gates better odds at returning. The Giants gave Gates — a 16-game center starter in 2020 — a two-year, $6.82MM extension two years ago. But offseason addition Jon Feliciano is ticketed to take over at center.
  • The Eagles lost nearly all of their high-ranking front office staffers this offseason, seeing four of them leave for assistant GM gigs elsewhere. One of those, Andy Weidl, is now Omar Khan‘s right-hand man in Pittsburgh. Weidl worked with the Eagles for more than six years, and although he took over the team’s VP of player personnel post after Joe Douglas became the Jets’ GM in 2019, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes Howie Roseman did not give Weidl as much input as Douglas had. This became an understandable source of friction for Weidl. The Eagles went in a different direction with their new Roseman right-hand men, promoting staffers without traditional scouting backgrounds (Jon Ferrari and Alec Hallaby) to assistant GM posts.

Giants Shopping Darius Slayton

April 25th, 2022 at 1:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

Kadarius Toney has garnered most of the headlines for the Giants recently, but he’s not the only wideout who could soon be on his way out of New York. According to Dan Duggan of the Athletic, Darius Slayton is being shopped around by the team (subscription required). 

[RELATED: Giants Willing To Trade Toney]

Slayton, 25, has been involved in trade discussions before. In the run-up to last season’s trade deadline, the Giants began receiving calls on his availability. They didn’t end up dealing him, but New Orleans was named as a team which attempted to strike a deal. In a disappointing 2021 season, Slayton totalled 26 catches for 339 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

In his two other seasons in the NFL, however, the Auburn product put up encouraging numbers. His receptions (48 and 50) and yardage (740 and 751) totals were almost identical between 2019 and 2020, though he found the endzone much more frequently in his rookie campaign. That made him part of the cause for optimism surrounding the Giants’ passing game this past season, but the team ranked 31st in the league through the air.

As Duggan notes, Slayton’s usage earned him the proven performance escalator, which has direct financial consequences for the coming season. After three years of six-figure cap hits, that number will increase to just under $2.6MM in 2022. That makes him much less affordable for New York – which, after a slew of cost-cutting measures, still faces a tight cap situation – and less attractive to any potential trade partner. Duggan writes that it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see Slayton cut from the roster if a trade doesn’t materialize.

The Giants are well-positioned if they wish to re-shape their WR room this week via the draft. Especially if they add significantly to the position, Slayton could soon find himself in a new NFL home.

NFL COVID-19 List Updates: 1/4/22-1/5/22

January 5th, 2022 at 11:32pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are Tuesday and Wednesday’s activations from and placements on the reserve/COVID-19 lists:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Jared Cook, LB Damon Lloyd (remains on IR)

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Giants Place T Matt Peart On IR

December 30th, 2021 at 2:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Giants will not have one of their tackles available for a while. While they placed Matt Peart on IR on Thursday, the second-year blocker will be shut down well into the offseason.

Peart suffered a torn ACL during the Giants’ Week 16 game against the Eagles. The 2020 third-round pick was starting in place of Nate Solder, who was out after a positive COVID-19 test.

This could impact the Giants’ plans at right tackle. Solder is due to be a free agent in March, thanks to a reworked contract. His 2020 opt-out changed the Giants’ offensive line approach, sliding Andrew Thomas to left tackle. Peart played 22% of the Giants’ offensive snaps last season and upped that to 43% this year. Peart made five starts this season.

While Peart probably factors into the Giants’ post-2021 plans, his stock will take a hit because of this injury and the franchise being set to move on from GM Dave Gettleman. The Giants have dealt with considerable issues up front this season, having played without interior-line starters Shane Lemieux and Nick Gates. Both starters suffered severe injuries, with Gates’ September setback a possible career-ender. Beyond Thomas, not much is certain about the Giants’ offensive front beyond this season.

The Giants also activated Solder from the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday but moved tackle Korey Cunningham and wide receiver Darius Slayton to the virus list. Cunningham had replaced Peart at right tackle in Philadelphia. The Giants also placed running back Gary Brightwell on IR.

Saints Tried To Acquire Giants WR Darius Slayton

November 3rd, 2021 at 10:22pm CST by Ben Levine

Odell Beckham Jr. wasn’t the only wideout who the Saints considered trading for. According to Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football, New Orleans tried to pull off a trade for Giants receiver Darius Slayton. However, the two side were unable to agree to a deal before the deadline.

[RELATED: Saints, Browns Discussed Odell Beckham Jr. Trade]

The Saints quest to add a receiver made a lot more sense once we learned that Michael Thomas will end up sitting out the entire 2021 campaign. Of course, even if Thomas was in the lineup, the team still could have used some reinforcement at the position, especially with quarterback Jameis Winston now done for the season. The Saints leader in receptions this season is running back Alvin Kamara, and the team’s receivers depth chart is currently led by Marquez Callaway, Tre’Quan Smith, Kenny Stills, and Deonte Harris.

Slayton wouldn’t have necessarily been an upgrade, but he would have provided the Saints with another dependable target. The 24-year-old has struggled a bit in 2021, collecting only 190 receiving yards in five games. However, in both 2019 and 2020, Slayton exceeded 700 receiving yards.

We heard yesterday that Slayton was generating some interest ahead of the trade deadline. The wideout’s low-cost contract still has another full year to go, a factor that held appeal to potential suitors.

Giants’ Darius Slayton Drawing Trade Interest

November 2nd, 2021 at 1:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The Giants have been receiving trade inquiries on Darius Slayton (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). With a record of 2-6, the Giants could be willing to move the young wide receiver. 

[RELATED: Teams Calling On Giants’ Engram]

Slayton, 24, was a solid fifth-round find in 2019. He nabbed 48 passes for 740 yards and eight touchdowns as a rookie, good for a 15.4 yards per catch average. His encore was similarly solid — 50 receptions for 751 yards and three scores. This year has been a different story — hamstring issues sidelined him for several games and he was targeted just twice against the Chiefs last night. Through five games this year, Slayton has 12 catches for 190 yards and one touchdown.

His low-cost contract still has another full year to go, which should hold appeal to rival clubs. Then again, that’d be another reason for the Giants to keep him. And, despite their iffy status, GM Dave Gettleman and head coach Joe Judge have insisted that they won’t hold a desperation fire sale to save their jobs.

Tight end Evan Engram is also said to be drawing trade interest, with multiple teams calling on the fifth-year pro.

Position Coaches: Gilbride, Flaherty, Lupoi, Tolbert

January 11th, 2020 at 6:59pm CST by Marc Delucchi

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule is beginning to fill out the position coaching spots in Carolina. Kevin M. Gilbride will be in charge of the team’s tight ends and Pat Flaherty is expected to be named the team’s offensive line coach, per Alex Marvez of Fox Sports. Gilbride has extensive experience as a tight ends coach, serving in the position with the Giants from 2014-17 and with the Bears from 2018 until he was fired last month.

The Panthers will be the fifth NFL organization to hire Flaherty as an offensive line coach. Flaherty worked as the offensive line coach from 2004-2015 with the Giants followed by a one-year stint with the 49ers, a two-year stint with the Jaguars, and a a short period with the Dolphins in 2019. While Flaherty brings a long line of experience, he was fired in Miami prior to the end of training camp after struggling to implement the team’s scheme.

  • The Falcons have named Browns defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi as the team’s defensive line coach and run game coordinator, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. Lupoi was a collegiate defensive lineman at Cal, where he began his coaching career in 2008. After a stint with the University of Washington as the defensive line coach, he joined the staff at Alabama, eventually becoming the team’s defensive coordinator in 2018. Lupoi moved to the professional coaching ranks for the first time when he joined Freddie Kitchens‘ staff prior to this season.
  • Giants new head coach Joe Judge will not be making changes to the entire coaching staff. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, reports that Judge is expected to retain wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert. While New York struggled in many areas this season, the receiving corp showed impressive depth. Tolbert was credited with helping late-round pick, Darius Slayton, become a legitimate receiving option.

Giants WR Golden Tate Out With Concussion

November 29th, 2019 at 10:16am CST by Marc Delucchi

Giants wide receiver Golden Tate will not practice today and is out for New York’s upcoming matchup against the Packers while he deals with a concussion, according to Ryan Dunleavy of The New York Post. Tate sustained a concussion in last week’s 19-14 loss to the Bears on a touchdown reception and has been in the league’s protocol since.

Tate, signed this offseason by the Giants, has hauled in 36 receptions for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns over seven games this season. With Tate out and tight end Evan Ingram dealing with an injury of his own, expect New York to rely heavily on running back Saquon Barkley against the Packers.

According to the Giants depth chart, Cody Latimer is next in line to take Tate’s starting spot, but Darius Slayton started in place of Sterling Shepard while he was out with a concussion of his own. Regardless, this season’s revolving door of receivers has not made adjusting to the NFL any easier for rookie quarterback Daniel Jones, who has struggled mightily since a strong start to the season.

 

NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Haskins, Giants

August 4th, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

As other teams continue to finalize pivotal extensions, work remains for the Cowboys on this front. Contract talks are ongoing for Dallas’ standout trio — Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper — entering the team’s first preseason game, and ESPN.com’s Todd Archer notes none of these contracts is particularly close to being done. Nevertheless, Jerry Jones remains confident.

“You just know like so many things it’ll happen. It’ll happen,” Jones said of the extensions. “There literally is no concern on my part at all about any timeframe. That’ll happen. The results are too good for them and too good for the Cowboys. Think about it a minute. The results are too good for them and too good for the Cowboys. That always happens when it’s good for both (sides).”

Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones has mentioned possible team-friendly discounts for these players, due to the financial opportunities that come with playing with this particular franchise, and added the team not does not intend to set positional markets. (For what it’s worth, the Cowboys set the guard market last summer with Zack Martin.) Elliott, however, remains a holdout — with two days remaining until the Aug. 6 date that will determine whether the running back is a UFA or an RFA in 2020 — and Prescott does not sound receptive to a Cowboys-friendly deal.

Going from the Cowboys’ off-field matters to some of their rivals’ on-field setups, here is the NFC East’s latest:

  • Although Colt McCoy spent the offseason rehabbing a broken leg, he emerged as the Redskins‘ starting quarterback on their first depth chart. It is not certain he will take the snaps in Week 1, but J.P. Finlay of NBC Sports Washington indicates camp work thus far has revealed this competition has become a two-man battle between McCoy and Case Keenum. It should be expected Dwayne Haskins takes over at some point this season, but Finlay notes the first-round pick has not looked ready yet. Haskins sits as Washington’s QB3 on the first depth chart.
  • Despite Dexter Lawrence tipping the scales north of 340 pounds, the Giants are playing him as a five-technique defensive end, Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com notes. This will accommodate the 318-pound Dalvin Tomlinson, who moved from end to tackle after Damon Harrison was traded midseason. Tomlinson is indeed operating as Big Blue’s first-string nose. Lawrence played the nose spot at Clemson but has impressed the Giants with his pass-rushing ability this offseason. The mammoth defensive lineman registered 1.5 sacks last season but collected 6.5 as a freshman in 2016. Either way, New York will boast a physically imposing defensive front.
  • Darius Slayton‘s encouraging offseason has not yet translated to camp, with the rookie wide receiver joining some higher-profile Giants wideouts in being unavailable. Slayton has missed 10 consecutive practices because of a hamstring injury, Dunleavy notes. For the non-Giants-following sect, Sterling Shepard broke his thumb, Corey Coleman tore his ACL and Golden Tate received a four-game suspension since camp began.

East Rumors: Witten, Mills, Patriots, Giants

June 17th, 2019 at 9:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

With minicamps having concluded, we are now in NFL’s true offseason. However, teams use this downtime to size up their rosters and determine which, if any, moves need to be made. Here is how some of the East franchises’ rosters look going into the break:

  • At first, Jason Witten‘s unretirement was believed to be centered around a part-time on-field role and for off-field leadership. But after the Cowboys‘ offseason program, Todd Archer of ESPN.com insists the 37-year-old tight end will play far more than the 25-snap role loosely pegged for the one-year ESPNer upon his return. Witten caught at least 60 passes from 2004-17, so it can be expected the Cowboys want to see him provide Dak Prescott with as much of a short- and mid-range option as he can handle in his comeback year. Backup Blake Jarwin (27 catches, 307 yards in 2018) did grade as Pro Football Focus’ No. 25 tight end last season, so it’s logical the team will use him plenty.
  • The Dolphins‘ initial hope was to slot former Bills starter Jordan Mills at the right tackle spot Ja’Wuan James‘ departure vacated, but that has not gone so well. Mills did not fare well during much of Miami’s minicamp, according to ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe, who writes Mills (48 starts as Buffalo’s right tackle since 2016) was “regularly exposed” during workouts. While it’s hard to tell how linemen are performing until the pads come on, and this Mills update runs counter to a report indicating right tackle was his job to lose. But Wolfe adds Jesse Davis replaced Mills during some practice sessions. The Dolphins would save $2MM by releasing Mills, who has started 82 games in six seasons.
  • Despite not his nomadic stretch since his Chargers days, Dontrelle Inman fared well as a Colts supporting-caster last season. He graded as one of the best part-time wideouts in the league, per Football Outsiders. But Jeff Howe and Nick Underhill of The Athletic leave the 30-year-old receiver off their Patriots‘ 53-man roster projection (subscription required), even in predicting Demaryius Thomas starts the season on the PUP list. The duo only have four true wideouts (Julian Edelman, N’Keal Harry, Maurice Harris, Phillip Dorsett) making the Pats’ roster, with Matthew Slater long used as a pure special-teamer. The Pats guaranteed Inman $300K.
  • The first post-Odell Beckham Jr. Giants receiving corps features clear-cut starters in Sterling Shepard and Golden Tate, but a Day 3 rookie may have an outside shot at being New York’s WR3. While Corey Coleman stands as Big Blue’s current No. 3 wideout, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY notes fifth-round pick Darius Slayton (Auburn) has a decent chance to supplant him. Pat Shurmur called Slayton the team’s most improved player this offseason, and Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com added the team seeks a downfield threat to team with Tate and Shepard. Slayton averaged at least 19 yards per catch in each of his three Auburn seasons.
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