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You are forgiven if you did not remember, or didn’t know in the first place, that Chad Slade was still a member of the New York Giants. An offensive lineman, Slade has been a part of the Giants for two seasons.
What does he have to show for it? Three snaps played at left guard in Week 9 last season against the Washington Football Team.
Let’s talk a little bit about Slade as we continue slogging through player-by-player profiles of the 90-man roster that will report for Giants training camp in just a couple of weeks.
The basics
Height: 6-foot-5
Weight: 315
Age: 29
Position: Offensive line
Experience: 5
Contract: One-year, $927,000 | Guaranteed: $77,500 | 2021 cap hit: $927,500
Career to date
The 29-year-old Slade has been an NFL player since 2015, when he spent his rookie season on IR after joining the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent out of Auburn.
Slade was waived by Houston at the beginning of the 2016 season, signed a reserve/futures contract with the Texans for 2017 and spent the majority of the next two seasons bouncing from the team’s practice squad to the active roster.
He appeared in five games for Houston in 2017, starting three and playing 163 snaps, 140 of those at right guard.
Slade signed a reserve/futures contract with the Giants for the 2019 season. He was on the 53-man roster all season but was inactive for all 16 games. In 2020, he bounced between the practice squad and active roster.
2021 outlook
Slade is comparable to an insurance policy. You never really know if it’s worth the money you are putting into it until you need it.
The Giants have never really needed Slade. In practice or preseason, I have seen Slade work everywhere on the offensive line except center. He has probably worked at that a little, as well. That versatility, and the fact that he has managed to stick around the league this long, make him one of those veteran offensive linemen teams like to turn to if they have a short-term emergency.
Is Slade an insurance policy the Giants would be grateful to cash in? I honestly couldn’t tell you.
Slade once again does not appear to have a clear path to a roster spot. He could stick as insurance, though, especially if the practice squad rules grant him eligibility.