We might be seeing the recent Kadarius Toney drama settle down, but the Giants’ draft actions do make their receiver depth chart quite crowded.
Still, Joe Schoen said Toney is not being shopped, via The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. While the new Big Blue GM did not go into much detail on the Toney situation, he made his statement after being asked about the prospect of the 2021 first-round pick and Friday second-round choice (slot receiver Wan’Dale Robinson) coexisting.
The Giants exited Round 2 with a wideout surplus, with Toney and Robinson joining veterans Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton. A 5-foot-8 target who caught 104 passes for 1,334 yards and seven touchdowns at Kentucky last season, Robinson adds an inside weapon to New York’s receiver stable — one Schoen compared to Bills gadget player Isaiah McKenzie. But the team already houses slot contributors in Shepard and Toney.
The team reached an agreement to bring back Shepard, and Schoen is shutting down the notion the new regime is bailing on Toney so soon. Although the Giants are shopping Slayton, they certainly appear to have some role overlap now that Robinson is on the team. A 2019 fifth-round pick, Slayton has shown flashes as a pro — despite the Giants’ struggles as a whole offensively — and finished with more than 700 receiving yards in each of his first two seasons. As the Giants offense cratered last year, Slayton finished with just 339 yards in 13 games.
Toney not being shopped does not mean the Giants are not listening to offers; it appears that has happened since the Toney trade talk started several days ago. Schoen declined to say the team is not listening on Toney.
The intriguing Florida product has struggled to stay on the field and been a bit of a headache off it for the Giants, but they would take on $11M in dead money by trading him. A team that would acquire Toney would only be on the hook for his rookie-deal base salaries, creating value here considering Toney’s first-round pedigree. For the time being, however, the Giants will carry this interesting receiver quintet into their offseason program.
More must-reads: