He became poetic and poetic about how he loved it almost every minute during his six years with the Giants.
“Really, if you go in the right direction and start winning, you really couldn't say anything bad about this place,” Darius Slayton said Thursday.
So Slayton reached the heart of the problem:
“We're just trying to fill that quarterback hole,” he said.
Oh yeah, that quarterback hole.
That quarterback crack is similar.
Slayton was the longest expanded Giants player, and it seemed like his tenure ended last season.
There was no bad blood, but there was an inclusive sense that Slayton wanted a fresh start elsewhere.
His stay in free agency was short and sweet. As he could, he once again gave the most financial and football security of his career with the team that won his fifth draft pick on a three-year three-year contract in 2019.
Of course, before he recommitted, he wanted to hear from general manager Joe Shane and head coach Brian Daball what the quarterback plan was.
“In free agency, that's very important to receivers: knowing who's trying to throw the ball,” Slayton said. “So I, Daves and Joe, had those arguments, and I believe in the vision they have and the plans they have. I think they'll take someone here.
There's no way Shane and Dabour can give Slayton any promise, as the Giants are relegated to be in many ways responsive and recoiling in many ways when it comes to adding the most prominent and most prominent missing ingredients in the roster of the most important players.
Russell Wilson, 36, arrives Thursday night and will be coming straight from Cleveland after meeting with the Giants at the team facility on Friday and talking to the Browns.
At this point, signing Wilson is far more likely than involving the Giants, Steelers and perhaps Aaron Rodgers, who is taking the time to decide between the Vikings and retirement.
The Giants have set their sights on the 41-year-old Rogers, the Jets cast and future Hall of Fame after not seducing Matthew Stafford from the Rams, but there is no strong reason to believe Rogers will choose the Giants.
Slayton, 28, won one season with Eli Manning, became a good friend of Daniel Jones supporter, draft classmates. Most of his 259 career receptions and 21 touchdowns came through connections with Jones.
The Giants move on, Jones is with the Colts and Slayton needs a new quarterback.
When the Giants ask Slayton to make a recruiting pitch, he's all in.
“To be honest, we tell you that we have a lot of young, talented players, especially pass catchers. We have a very quarterback-friendly unit,” Slayton says. “For a veteran quarterback or a younger quarterback, either way, he's in a good situation with a good player and a good situation, and he has two great tackles, so he's safe and got his weapon. I think quarterbacks should consider this situation to be the limit of the sky.”
It might be a bit thicker, but Slayton and the Giants are desperate in this search.
In Rogers's case, Slayton is all on board.
“Personally, I think Aaron Rodgers is probably the best quarterback ever, as a pure pitch on the ball to play football,” Slayton said. “So I have a lot of respect for Aaron, and I know that everyone loves in this league. When I get a little older, it happens to everyone, like, 'He's not getting it anymore'. But I think Aaron Rodgers showed he could still turn it.
“Obviously if I get him, I want to play with him. This league doesn't give me the chance to play in the Hall of Fame, the greatest quarterback of all time. I was happy to play with my rookie year. I don't think it's a blessing I'd underestimate to be able to play with two people in my career.”
In Wilson's case, Slayton is also all-in.
“Well, selfishly, I think he's got attention for having a great deep ball in his career. “Otherwise, he's the one who won this league and he's played well in this league for a long time and played well for the Steelers last year, so obviously he still has gas in the tank. If he's the one we bring here, or the person we bring, we'll accept him and do our best to rally around him.”
