Report: Former Auburn wideout being placed on NFL trading block

The New York Giants might be ready to move on from former Auburn Tigers wide receiver Darius Slayton. According to NFL reporter Dov Kleiman, the Giants are reportedly placing Slayton on the trading block and exploring a possible move.

“#Giants are shopping WR Darius Slayton, according to @DDuggan21,” Kleiman tweeted.

The Giants selected Slayton with a fifth-round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft out of Auburn. Since then, he has played a decent role in the Giants offense. As a rookie in 2019, Slayton played in 14 games with nine starts, hauling in 48 receptions on 84 targets for 740 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging 15.4 yards per reception. In 2020, he played in 16 games with 15 starts, bringing in 50 of his 96 targets for 751 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 15 yards per catch.

This past season, Slayton dealt with some injuries that forced him to miss some time. He still played in 14 games, bringing in 26 of his 58 targets for 339 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 13 yards per reception.

In his three-year NFL career, Slayton has struggled with drops with a catch percentage of 52.1%. This past season, Slayton caught just 44.8% of the balls thrown his way.

In three years at Auburn, Slayton caught 79 passes for 1,605 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 20.3 yards per reception.

Slayton isn’t the only Giants wide receiver reportedly on the trading block

Earlier in the week, it was reported that Giants wide receiver Kadarius Toney was also on the trading block. Toney was selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. As a rookie, Toney caught 39 passes on 57 targets for 420 yards with zero touchdowns. His best game came in Week 5 against the Cowboys, where Toney had 10 receptions for 189 yards.

The Giants also have Sterling Shepard and Kenny Golladay at wide receiver, but both dealt with injuries throughout the last year. New York is looking for more production offensively, and the possible departures of Toney and Slayton could be interesting moves to follow with the 2022 NFL Draft at the end of the week.

The Giants finished 4-13 last season, coming in last place in the NFC East and missing out on the playoffs. New York does hold the No. 5 and No. 7 overall picks in this week’s draft.