Daniel Jones is gone, and there's no need for Giants pal Darius Slayton to cover for him anymore
Darius Slayton of the Giants reacts during the first quarter against the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium on Dec. 8, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Darius Slayton spent most of his first six seasons with the Giants as a vocal defender of Daniel Jones. They were drafted together, they grew together, and they forged a close relationship on and off the field. Slayton often joked that he was his quarterback’s alter ego, the one who said the things he couldn’t say himself.
Now that Indiana Jones has signed with the Colts, though, obvious truths can be told. And they are starting to be said, by Slayton and by the organization, both out loud and through actions:
It was lack of production from the quarterback position that held the Giants back last year, maybe even the last two years, and the bulk of that came from Jones.
This is a team that ranked 30th in total yards (294.8 per game) and 31st in scoring (16.1 points per game) in 2024, yet is gleefully bringing back just about every cog of the offensive system but one.
The coaching staff is returning without much turnover, there have been no big free-agent additions to the lineup other than a few offensive linemen for depth, and two free agents who did hit the market — Slayton and guard Greg Van Roten — have re-upped with the Giants.
There still is time in free agency and the draft to make some changes, but projecting the opening day starting lineup from here makes it look as if there will be 10 returners and one yet-to-be-named player at what happens to be the most important position in the sport.
They seem to believe they are a quarterback away from finding the kind of success that flashed in that win over the Colts when back-back-backup Drew Lock scored five touchdowns for them . . . and are hellbent on proving it.
Consider some of the things Slayton said on Thursday.
On being a wide receiver who just signed a three-year deal with a team that doesn’t yet know who its quarterback will be: “I believe in the vision that they [general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll] have and that they are going to get somebody in here who can spin it and lead us in the right direction.”
On pitching the Giants to prospective passers: “I think we are a very quarterback-friendly unit . . . You’re safe, you have weapons. Any quarterback should look at this situation.”
On the receivers on the roster that include himself, Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson: “I think we have the ability to be in that echelon considered one of the best receiving units in the NFL. Obviously, we gotta have somebody giving it to you to get there.”
They haven’t had that for a while. Now they hope they might. Eventually, anyway.
Who it will be still is very much a mystery.
The Giants are among the teams waiting for decisions to be made by beach-strolling Aaron Rodgers, who was spotted doing his “Old Man and the Sea” impression this week, and barnstorming Russell Wilson, who spent Thursday visiting the Browns with a trip to the Giants scheduled for Friday.
The Giants reportedly had Joe Flacco in for a visit on Thursday, leaving no Super Bowl-winning stone unturned.
They also are likely to draft a rookie in April, potentially with the third overall pick or higher if they can trade up.
The new players the Giants did add, mostly on defense, said they didn’t ask about the quarterback vacancy when they signed . . . though it certainly lingers over their arrivals and was rife with questions during their introductory media availabilities.
“For me, I just kind of focus on getting myself acquainted with the team,” cornerback Paulson Adebo said. “I just got here, figuring out how I can help the team, and then I’ll let whoever has to make those decisions handle those. But I’m excited and confident that we’ll make a good decision.”
Said safety Jevon Holland: “I didn’t ask them what their quarterback plans were. My job as a defender is to give the ball back to the quarterback. Whoever I’m giving the ball back to, I know if I’m giving them the ball back, then I’m going to be helping them.”
Slayton said he’s been following the Giants’ efforts to solve this matter that began with an attempted trade for Matthew Stafford, and he sounded juiced for either of the two prominent veterans currently at the forefront of the search.
“Selfishly, I think he has a great deep ball,” he said of Wilson. “I love that, of course. Other than that, he is somebody who has won in this league, has played well in this league for a long time, played well last year for the Steelers, so clearly he still has gas in the tank. If he’s who we are to bring in here, we’ll embrace him and do our best to rally around him.”
Rodgers, though, seems to be his slight preference.
“Personally, I think Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback, just as a pure thrower of the ball, to ever play football,” he said. “I have a ton of respect for him . . . It’s not very often in this league you get a chance to play with a Hall of Fame all-time quarterback. I had the pleasure of playing with one my rookie year [Eli Manning], and being able to play with two in a career is definitely not a blessing I would understate.”
No mention of the guy who was there the majority of the time in between them. Odd. Or maybe not, if we are telling truths now.
“Oftentimes there is too much blame placed on the quarterback, sometimes there is too much credit placed on the quarterback, but at the end of the day, they do touch the ball the most,” Slayton said. “The belief is that if you can get somebody back there who can make the right decisions on a consistent basis that the wins will come.”
We’re about to find out.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
