Although the New York Giants are one of the top surprise teams of the 2022 season through six games, Brian Daboll’s roster could have an attractive trade target for the Green Bay Packers as the trade deadline approaches.
Receiver Darius Slayton, a fast deep threat playing on the final year of his rookie deal, makes sense if Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst wants a cheap trade target attached with low risk and potentially decent reward.
Slayton should be a familiar name for Packers fans: He caught six passes for 79 yards in New York’s upset win over Green Bay in London.
The Giants have been attempting to deal Slayton going back to the summer, and Giants Wire editor Dan Benton believes they would trade the 25-year-old receiver to the Packers if there was interest.
“I could see it,” Benton told Packers Wire. “The Giants aren’t going to re-sign him so they would likely look at anything (in return) as a plus.”
Benton said a late-round pick or even a conditional pick or a swap of draft picks could be enough to get him out of New York. And he believes Slayton’s fit with Aaron Rodgers is a good one.
“Slayton is a straight burner and Rodgers has a big arm,” Benton said.
Slayton (6-0, 191) has terrific speed (4.39-second 40-yard dash time) and terrific overall athleticism (8.91 Relative Athletic Score). He caught eight touchdown passes as a rookie in 2019 and hauled in 13 total passes thrown over 20 yards during his first two seasons in the league.
In 2019 and 2020, Slayton caught 98 passes on 180 targets for 1,491 yards and 11 touchdowns. He caught only 54.4 percent of his targets but still averaged 8.3 yards per target.
Slayton also has kick return experience (nine kickoff returns in 2019).
The Packers are dealing with a multitude of injuries at wide receiver with Sammy Watkins still on injured reserve, Randall Cobb now nursing an ankle injury (2-4 week timeline) and rookie Christian Watson going through his third lower-body injury since training camp.
Slayton could provide a big influx of speed and vertical ability for the Packers passing game, possibly helping to elevate some of the issues against man coverage for Rodgers. And his speed as a deep threat provides some insurance against the current injury situation of Watson, who hasn’t been able to stay on the field as a rookie and might not be a big contributor in 2022.
The trade deadline is Nov. 1. Will the Packers, in their search for receiver help, hone in on Slayton, who impressed in London?
