Darius Slayton pay cut: WR takes decrease to stay with Giants

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton has taken a pay cut, per a report from Tom Rock of Newsday.

The pay cut will reduce Slayton’s salary from (approximately) $2.598 million down to the league-minimum of $956,000. That would result in a salary cap sap savings of roughly $1.64 million for the cash-strapped Giants. Rock further reports that Slayton will remain with the team and be on the practice field Wednesday after an excused absence on Tuesday.

Giants coach Brian Daboll admitted Wednesday morning that Slayton’s absence from Tuesday’s practice, said to be for personal reasons, was because Slayton and his representatives were discussing his future with GM Joe Schoen.

“Business,” Daboll said. “He’s out here today. Good to have him back.”

It was long assumed that the Giants would trade Slayton before Wednesday’s deadline to be under the salary cap. It seems that the rumored trade interest never fully developed, and the Giants were faced with the decision to present Slayton with a pay cut or release him outright.

The Giants restructured defensive tackle Leonard Williams’ contract on Tuesday to create $11.92 million in cap space to get under the salary cap. That move took the Giants from being $6.692 million over the cap to roughly $5.22 million under the cap. With Slayton taking a pay cut, the Giants would have roughly $6.84 million in cap space heading into the season.

While teams technically only need to be under the salary cap, they realistically need a fair amount of cap room to allow them to sign players mid-season as injury replacements. We could see more moves made in the coming hours or days to give the front office greater flexibility to navigate the 17-game season.

All 32 teams need to be under the salary cap by 4 p.m. today.