The New York Giants’ inactivity at Tuesday’s trade deadline can’t be fully evaluated for months.
Was holding a hard line on wide receiver Darius Slayton and outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari a decision driven by self-preservation, as weakening a 2-7 roster could damage the job security of general manager Joe Schoen and coach Brian Daboll? Or was standing pat a calculated decision based on a belief the team will be able to re-sign the pending free agents to avoid letting more homegrown talent walk?
Trading Slayton never seemed like a realistic possibility. His name seemingly came up in trade rumors because of the belief a 2-7 team would be willing to sell an impending free agent. But the Giants didn’t seriously entertain offers for Slayton, according to a league source.
That’s understandable from the self-preservation angle. Slayton is the team’s most consistent receiver. Removing him could have caused the lowest-scoring offense in the league to plunge to new depths. That would be a tough look for Daboll, who took over as the play caller this season.
The Steelers reportedly were interested in Slayton before trading a fifth-round pick to the Jets for wide receiver Mike Williams. Getting more than a fifth-round pick for Slayton was unrealistic.
Re-signing Slayton should be a priority for the Giants. He’s on pace for career highs in catches and receiving yards while settling into a No. 2 receiver role alongside rookie Malik Nabers. It would be particularly valuable to have a reliable, experienced receiver to help a young quarterback’s transition to the NFL if the Giants draft a quarterback next year.
But the Giants haven’t had any discussions with Slayton about an extension, according to a league source.
It will be incumbent on Schoen to properly forecast Slayton’s desire to return. Slayton has had a rocky contractual history with this regime, starting with a $1.6 million pay cut to the minimum when he was buried on the depth chart before the start of the 2022 season. After he responded by producing a typically solid season, Slayton re-signed with the Giants on a two-year, $12 million contract in 2023 after his market failed to develop.
Believing he was underpaid after the most productive season of his career in 2023, Slayton skipped the start of the voluntary program this offseason in a quest for a raise or a trade. He didn’t get either, although the Giants increased his existing incentives package by $650,000 to entice him to attend the offseason program.
The young receiver corps that was supposed to be a strength hasn’t come together. Nabers looks like a true No. 1 receiver, but 2022 second-round pick Wan’Dale Robinson has the lowest average yards per catch of any receiver in the league, and 2023 third-round pick Jalin Hyatt can’t get on the field.
The hope when the Giants traded a fourth-round pick to move up 16 spots in the third round of the 2023 draft for Hyatt was that he would replace Slayton. Instead, Slayton won a battle for a starting spot this offseason. Hyatt has just one catch for six yards so far this season.
Slayton will likely be seeking the type of mid-tier receiver contract Gabriel Davis and Darnell Mooney received last offseason worth $13 million per year. That’s a reasonable cost for a quality No. 2 receiver, and the Giants are slated to have plenty of cap space. They’ll need to make a strong offer. Slayton didn’t switch to super agent David Mulugheta this summer because he’s planning to take a hometown discount.
The Giants were more willing to listen to offers for Ojulari, but Schoen drove a hard bargain. He was seeking a late fourth-round pick or an early fifth-round pick, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. That was too rich for teams since Ojulari would have been an eight-game rental before hitting free agency.
Ojulari remains valuable to a team that has been carried by its pass rush. Ojulari has five sacks in four games since replacing Kayvon Thibodeaux, who is on injured reserve with a broken wrist. Thibodeaux won’t return this week, so Ojulari will get at least one more start.
Tomon Fox, who has two sacks in three seasons, is the next edge rusher on the depth chart behind Ojulari. The pass rush would have gotten significantly weaker if Ojulari was traded and Thibodeaux or Brian Burns missed time.
But in the long-term, it’s harder to see Ojulari as a fit than Slayton. Ojulari will shift back to a rotational role when Thibodeaux returns. Ojulari played 37 percent of the snaps in the five games before Thibodeaux’s injury. And the Giants can’t replicate the NASCAR package of the past because Burns, Thibodeaux and Ojulari exclusively rush from the edge.
The Giants are tied to Burns through 2028, with cap hits ranging from $29.8 million to $32.5 million in each of the next four seasons. The fifth-year option for Thibodeaux is looming this offseason, which will guarantee him a projected $16 million salary for 2026.
It’s important to have pass rush depth, but there are no indications the Giants are planning to spend what would be required to keep Ojulari as their No. 3 edge rusher. The floor for Ojulari’s annual salary could be $10 million on a long-term deal. There have been no discussions with the Giants on an extension, according to a league source.
If the Giants forecasted Ojulari as a piece of their future, the time to strike on an extension would have been this offseason when he was coming off an unproductive, injury-plagued season. His price is now at its peak after his sack outburst in place of Thibodeaux. Ojulari’s production has come as his playing time has spiked to 87 percent of the snaps during this stretch.
The timing couldn’t be better for Ojulari, who needed to restore his value after multiple injuries caused him to miss 16 games over the past two seasons. Assuming he stays healthy — and Thibodeaux’s return should help reduce the injury risk — Ojulari is set to hit the open market as a 24-year-old coming off the best season of his career.
It’s hard to see a path back to the Giants for Ojulari. If his market is strong, it’s unlikely the Giants will out-bid teams that view him as a starter. If his market is weak, it would make sense to take a prove-it deal with a team that will offer a greater opportunity for playing time.
The unknown in this equation is compensatory picks. Teams can recoup a comp pick if they lose a free agent, but that’s only if they don’t cancel out that departure with a signing.
The Giants are projected to have $48 million in cap space next offseason before making any cuts. That amount will increase to $67.5 million if they release quarterback Daniel Jones.
The Giants figure to spend in free agency if they lose Slayton and Ojulari. At minimum, they’ll need starters at quarterback, wide receiver, right guard, defensive tackle, cornerback and safety next offseason.
Any comp pick for a free agent departure next offseason wouldn’t be awarded until the 2026 draft. Meanwhile, for a rebuilding team, the Giants aren’t flush with picks in 2025. They have their own picks in the first, second, third, fourth and seventh rounds. They have Seattle’s fifth-round pick from the Leonard Williams trade and Buffalo’s seventh-round pick from the Boogie Basham trade. They’re also projected to get a fourth-round comp pick from safety Xavier McKinney’s departure last offseason.
Comp picks are a valuable tool to reward well-run teams that build a strong pool of talent and then draft well enough to have in-house replacements available when some players get priced out in free agency. The Giants aren’t at that point.
Ideally, the Giants will stop letting quality homegrown talent like McKinney, running back Saquon Barkley and safety Julian Love leave. But if they are going to lose those players, they should be proactive about securing assets for them.
It was reported that the Giants didn’t want to “give away” Ojulari for less than their asking price at the trade deadline. But that’s exactly what will happen in eight weeks if they don’t re-sign him. Delaying that inevitability to chase wins in a lost season would be a misguided way to operate.
It’s not accurate to say the Giants were completely inactive on Tuesday. They did find the time on the morning of the trade deadline to cut cornerback Nick McCloud. The move was looming for weeks as the team had been squeezing McCloud for a pay cut, according to a league source.
The Giants gave McCloud the lowest restricted free agent tender this offseason, which carried a $3 million salary with no guaranteed money. The Giants have annually squeezed players in similar positions for pay cuts after cut day, but they weren’t able to execute that plan with McCloud because they needed him to start the opener due to injuries at cornerback.
McCloud suffered a knee injury in the opener that caused him to miss the next two games. That’s when the team’s demand for a pay cut intensified, according to a league source. The Giants wanted McCloud to cut his pay in half.
McCloud declined, believing he hadn’t done anything to merit a pay cut. He started four games after returning from the knee injury, filling in at slot corner and on the perimeter. He maintained his role as a core special teamer while starting on defense.
McCloud’s versatility made him valuable, especially with the volatility of the Giants’ cornerbacks corps. It’s a bold move to cut him over a financial squabble when Deonte Banks is coming off a benching and Tre Hawkins is a weekly healthy scratch.
The Giants’ final offer on Tuesday was for McCloud to take a pay cut to the minimum. He was waived when he refused.
The Giants will save $1.5 million from cutting McCloud, although the net salary cap savings will be closer to $1 million after he’s replaced on the roster (likely by practice squad corner Greg Stroman).
The Giants had $2 million in salary cap space as of Tuesday, according to the NFLPA. That likely wouldn’t be enough to make it through the season. But the $1 million in cap savings created by cutting McCloud easily could have been achieved by a simple restructure of Burns’ contract. Adding $250,000 to his cap charges over the next four years wouldn’t cause a ripple.
Instead, Schoen went the cut-throat route with McCloud. The time for pay cuts is typically at the start of the league year in March and around cut day. In-season pay cuts are rare. Cutting a contributing player who declines an in-season pay cut is rarer.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox.
Sign Up
It seems particularly unfair in this instance because it was the Giants’ call to put the $3 million tender on McCloud in March. If they didn’t think he was worth $3 million, they could have chosen not to tender him. They then could have tried to sign him to a cheaper deal while giving him the opportunity to test the market. That’s what the Giants did with wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins and tight end Lawrence Cager as restricted free agents this offseason.
McCloud wasn’t a star player, but he started 16 games and was a core special teamer in three seasons with the Giants after getting claimed off waivers at the start of the 2022 season. He’s a respected player in the locker room and is particularly close with Burns. Cutting a player like McCloud over $1 million during the season sends a bad message for a regime that has preached so much about culture and competitiveness.
(Photo: John Jones / Imagn Images)
