Darius Slayton explains why it would have been 'crazy' to leave Giants

After struggling through three losing seasons to begin his career with the New York Giants, wide receiver Darius Slayton was not about to leave the team when it finally started to get good. 

In his words, it was not only an easy decision to re-sign with the Giants early in the free-agency signing period, potentially leaving larger offers elsewhere on the table, but it would have been crazy to consider anything else. 

Slayton told Newsday's Kimberly Jones this week that "it would have been crazy to leave as soon as we get the thing built," referring to a Giants roster that took a massive leap forward in 2022 by not only making the playoffs, but also winning a postseason game on the road in Minnesota. 

Slayton led the Giants with 724 yards receiving on 46 catches, also pacing the team with a 15.2 yards-per-catch average. 

Slayton has played his entire four-year career with the Giants, and after three lousy years the team finally found success under first-year coach Brian Daboll. They also managed to not only bring back starting quarterback Daniel Jones and running Saquon Barkley, they also added free-agent wide receiver Parris Campbell and traded for former Las Vegas Raiders tight end Darren Waller. 

“I think just some of the guys we’ve been able to sign, it’s just a testament to what we’ve been able to build here," Slayton told Newsday. 

The challenge for the Giants this season is going to be making sure they build on that success and do not fall to the pressure of expectations. A year ago nobody expected anything of the Giants and just assumed they were going to struggle again. But Jones had a breakout year and Barkley was back healthy, and all of that helped lead them to a surprising playoff berth. 

Now that they paid Jones on a long-term deal, they need him to not only maintain what he did a year ago, but also to build on it to help make the Giants a bonafide Super Bowl contender instead of a team that just simply makes the playoffs.