The mail’s here! David Silver asks: We understand Darius Slayton wants his contract extended, and is staying away from OTAs. You had a piece comparing him to other WRs, and he really does seem to outperform his salary year after year. He’s intelligent, reliable, drops the ball less, and he just finds a way. Regardless of whether they choose a WR, isn’t; he a great person for the receivers’ room who comes at a reasonable price? It’s not like a rookie and Jalin Hyatt are a lock to make Daniel Jones better. Why do you think Joe Schoen is not even trying to deal with him? Is he trade bait? Are they waiting for something to happen first? Ed says: David, I think you were on the right track with the last part of your question. The reality is that the drafting of Malik Nabers seriously decreased whatever financial leverage Slayton had, or thought he had. Slayton has been a good, but not great, player for the Giants. He probably is underpaid. He is a good teammate and great resource for media in the locker room. Here is another reality, though. If Nabers is what the Giants think he is, and Jalin Hyatt develops into the kind of player the Giants think he can be, there is a possibility Slayton is WR4 on the depth chart behind Nabers, Hyatt and Wan’Dale Robinson by the end of the 2024 season. Slayton’s protest in not showing up for voluntary workouts is noteworthy, but in the eyes of GM Joe Schoen probably not much to worry about. The Giants have Slayton under contract for 2024. He signed the deal. The Giants don’t have to do a thing. I’ll be shocked if Slayton doesn’t show up when things become mandatory — I’m not sure there is any point in him doing that. I will also be surprised if the Giants give Slayton any type of contract extension now. See how the year unfolds. Then, either pay him or don’t pay him and let him become a free agent. Dave Hollister asks: Hi Ed, I know everyone is very concerned about Evan Neal. I know he was approached about moving to guard, and there seems to be some confusion about his response. My question is what do you see as his ceiling there? Do you think he can perform at a Tyler Smith level? I feel like they are similar in size and with proper coaching Neal could be a beast at guard. What are your thoughts? Ed says: Dave, there is no way to know what his ceiling would be there. He did it well for one year at Alabama. That means it isn’t completely foreign, but how he would do in that position is an unknown. It might eliminate some of his issues with footwork, and theoretically his bulk and strength would work well at guard. He is, though, 6-foot-7 and there are questions about his ability to play inside with leverage, along with whether or not his balance issues would be helped. It might come to the point where the Giants have to try it, but it would honestly be a dart throw. Doug Mollin asks: In the article with Matt Waldman recently, you wrote, “The NFL doesn’t develop players. The NFL teaches playbooks and schemes. If guys want to get better at their craft, they need to have the drive and the know-how to do that on their own time”. How does that jibe with the hopes we have in our new OL coach being able to teach/develop the players we have — especially first-round pick Neal and second-round pick JMS? Ed says: Doug, it’s not that the NFL doesn’t want to develop players. Or doesn’t try to develop players. Watch an NFL practice, though, and you realize there really isn’t a lot of time devoted to skill or technique. There is not a lot of time devoted to individual development. Even that teaching is generally done by position group, it isn’t necessarily individual. There are serious limits on how much offseason work teams can do with players. There are serious limits on how much in-season practice time, and how physical teams can be on the field. A position coach can and should have some impact depending on how he teaches, what he teaches and how he motivates. Still, my point is that individual improvement in the NFL has to be individually driven. Ask a good coach for some extra time, he will give it to you. John Kozel asks: You explained (last week) what the Giants are on the hook for if Darren Waller retires which is his remaining prorated signing bonus. When a player is traded as Waller was, there is always a concern by the player’s original team about how the accelerated cap charges make the trade difficult. If you know, can you explain what charges the Raiders had to absorb when they traded Waller and what got transferred to the Giants? It just seems like there is an emphasis on cap charges on both ends of a trade and I can’t understand how there isn’t a double dipping effect. Thanks for your help and patience. Ed says: John, I don’t have access to full player contracts. In looking at the information available at Over The Cap, Waller had $11 million in guaranteed salary on his 2023 contract with the Raiders. That money transferred to the Giants. What Las Vegas was left with was $415,000 in pro-rated bonus money that they were responsible for. That $11 million was too much for the Giants to handle under their 2023 salary cap, which is why they extended his contract out through the 2026 season. There is, though, no guaranteed salary left on that contract. A player in this circumstance is not double-dipping. He is drawing salary from one team. Rob Stolzer asks: This might be a chicken and egg question, but as someone who is a long-time Giants fan, but does not know all the detailed ins and outs ofthe game, I’d be curious what your take is: When it comes to defense, is it better to have a stronger D-line than it is to have a stronger secondary? Here’s the guts of my question: a strong D-line should be able to pressure the opposing QB, possibly giving more opportunities tothe secondary, while a strong secondary should give a D-line more time to go after the QB. In a perfect world, the Giants would have strengths in both areas, like they’ve had in years past. But should the current focus be more on one than the other right now? Ed says: Rob, obviously it is ideal to be strong in both areas. That said, there are different philosophies of defense. Without getting deep into the weeds of schemes, which is Nick Falato’s area and not mine, the two philosophies of building a defense are basically back to front with the focus on the secondary or front to back with the focus on the line play. Steve Spagnuolo was a front-to-back, pressure the quarterback defensive coordinator. You remember the NASCAR packages and his reliance on pressure, right? His teams got by without great players in the secondary because he believed in pressure, but mostly believed in generating it with four extraordinary rushers. Wink Martindale believed in pressure, too. He always said “pressure breaks pipes.” Martindale, though, did not necessarily believe in four-man pressure. He believed in schemed pressure, exotic blitzes, confusing the blocking or sending more rushers than an offense could handle. Behind that, his defenses have traditionally played more man coverage than other teams. That means less emphasis on great pass rushers and more emphasis on great coverage players. Hence, why he almost broke GM Joe Schoen in half last year when the Giants drafted Tae Banks. New defensive coordinator Shane Bowen is a four-man rush coordinator. He wants pressure and will dial up the blitz, but he prefers to do it with four quality pass rushers either winning their matchups or executive twists and stunts. That is why the trade for edge defender Brian Burns was such an excellent fit. Mendy asks: If the Giants have another .500 or below winning record, what do you think the chances are of them making a change at coach and/or GM positions, especially with Belichick waiting in the wings? Ed says: Mendy with no last name, I have said before that I am not in favor of Bill Belichick coming back to the Giants. At this point in time, I don’t think John Mara would be in favor of it, either. There is, of course, pressure on GM Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll. I don’t think Schoen is going anywhere for a while. Ownership has signed off on the decisions that have been made, and I think they have faith in him. Daboll? John Mara did say this offseason that he could separate the GM and coach, that they weren’t necessarily a package deal. That said, I think Mara has seen enough of the head coach merry-go-round for a while. Unless the giants go 3-13 and things become completely untenable in terms of Daboll’s working relationships with people inside the Giants’ building my guess — as of now — is that he isn’t going anywhere. That could change, but it is what I think today. Submit a question Have a Giants-related question? E-mail it to bigblueview@gmail.com and it might be featured in our weekly mailbag. https://www.bigblueview.com/2024/4/27/2 ... -blue-view
