When the Philadelphia Eagles were reportedly about to release Darius Slay last week, Darius Slayton Tweeted “where we goin’ next, twin?” at Slay – and Giants fans surely believed they really saw the end of Slayton’s time with Big Blue.
Shockingly, over the next few days, the Eagles restructured Slay and the Giants also brought back their leading receiver, signing Slayton to a two-year deal.
And after officially signing on Monday, Slayton made it clear that the Giants were interested from the jump, making an offer “pretty early,” and one important piece’s return sealed the deal.
“This was really a pretty weird free agency year; teams really weren’t just throwing around money, kind of like in other years,” Slayton said. “We had a few teams that were interested that I probably could have went with, but ultimately once (the Giants) got (Daniel Jones) back – obviously the quarterback, so that’s a pretty big piece of being a receiver – just the familiarity here with what we’re building here and some of the guys that they acquired, I just felt like this would be the best place for me to go, and obviously I’m comfortable here. I enjoy being here, I enjoy the people, so it was easy to come back.”
One of the teams reportedly interested was the Falcons, the “hometown” team of the Norcross, Georgia, native, but Slayton said “ultimately, the best football decision” was New York.
“Atlanta is where I'm from, it’s close to where a lot of my family lives, and one of my best friends was a free agent that just got signed by Atlanta. So, I guess you could say I had a lot of reason to want to be there or to want to go there,” Slayton said. “First of all, free agency, it's got to be mutual. I think they had interest in me, which they expressed. But ultimately, I think the best football decision for me was being back here with Daniel and continuing to grow with him in (Mike) Kafka's offense.”
How important was the QB?
“I might have been more happy for his deal than my own deal, just because I’ve been here for everything that it’s taken for him to get here and kind of seeing the way people viewed him before and the way they view him now,” Slayton said of Jones. “Anybody who follows me on Twitter knows that Daniel Jones slander is not being tolerated on my timeline. That’ll be that way probably until the day that I die. I’m extremely happy for him and I’m just glad that he was able to get his due.”
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So, yes, once Jones was back, Saquon Barkley was franchised, and some other parts returned, Slayton knew he wanted to be part of it in New York.
“It would've been kind of crazy to leave after somewhat building all these bricks, and as soon as we get this thing built to jump off the top It would have been kind of crazy. I wanted to stick around and be at the top, take in the view myself,” he said. “Some of the guys we’ve been able to sign and go get are just a testament to what we’ve been able to build here and what Kafka and (Brian) Daboll and those guys have been able to bring to us."
And no, there were no sour grapes, or high demands, or anything else after Slayton went from taking a pay cut to remain and inactive in Week 1 to the Giants’ leading receiver by the end of the season.
“In general, I try not to bring emotion into things that aren't emotional, and football is not emotional. Either you go out there and you make plays, and the people that make the decisions play the people who make plays, or you don't,” he said. “So, at the end of the day when it comes to football or anything like that, I tend to point the thumb and not the finger and look at what I can do better – what have I done to put myself in whatever situation? And sometimes in life, you can do everything you're supposed to do, and you end up getting screwed over. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't somewhat contribute to my situation last year. And at the end of the day, I have to take responsibility for that and do better.”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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