Giants' Post-June 1 Slayton Release Saves $3.16 Million Against 2026 Cap
The move leaves OverTheCap and Spotrac disagreeing on the Giants' remaining 2026 cap room, and costs New York nearly four times what it saves.
The Giants released Darius Slayton on Monday, cutting the longest-tenured player on the roster six days before the season opener against the Dallas Cowboys. Slayton was in the second year of a three-year, $36 million extension signed in 2025 and was due $13 million this season, with $9.75 million already guaranteed. ESPN reported the Giants had been open to trading him during final roster cuts before releasing him outright.
The move carries a post-June 1 designation, which spreads the dead-money charge across two years instead of concentrating it in one. That leaves the Giants with $12,749,995 in dead money in 2026, another $3 million in 2027, and $3,161,775 in savings against this year's cap, according to contract figures compiled by Spotrac. Some outlets have put the 2026 savings closer to $2.5 million using a different accounting method; the $3.16 million figure reflects the specific post-June 1 designation the Giants used here.
Slayton was a 2019 fifth-round pick who spent seven seasons in New York. He finishes with 296 catches and 4,435 yards — 14th and 12th, respectively, in franchise history — and 22 touchdowns in 106 games, per Yahoo Sports and NFL insider Jordan Schultz. His production fell off last year: 37 catches for 538 yards and one touchdown in 14 games. The New York Post's Paul Schwartz reported Slayton played 33 snaps without a target in the preseason finale against the Jets. The Giants announced in April that Slayton had undergone core-muscle surgery; the Post has since reported he had not fully recovered from it.
Slayton posted his own farewell on X: "Grateful for my time in NY. 7 years a Giant nothing but love for one of the most prestigious organizations in the NFL. Excited to see what's next."
Slayton signed his three-year extension in 2025 with $22 million guaranteed. His 2026 cap number was $15,911,770, with $9,749,995 of his base salary already fully guaranteed — the reason the release costs the Giants nearly four times what it saves.
The two most widely used cap-tracking sites do not currently agree on where that leaves the Giants. As of Sept. 8, OverTheCap's team cap page shows the Giants at negative $1,179,917, over the cap. Spotrac had the Giants $953,427 over the cap before the Slayton release, per Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report; applying Spotrac's own dead-money figure for the cut would put the team at roughly $1.96 million in room afterward, a smaller cushion than OverTheCap's post-June 1 number implies. Neither site has explained the gap.
The move leaves four wide receivers on the Giants' active roster: Nabers, Mooney, Beckham Jr. and rookie Malachi Fields. Berrios, Hyatt, Cambre and C. Jones are on the practice squad. Austin III and Olszewski are on injured reserve. No practice-squad elevation had been made as of Sept. 8.
Nabers is coming back from a torn ACL suffered in 2025. Giants coach John Harbaugh said Sept. 1 the team has "got to plan for every outcome" on Nabers' Week 1 status. Giants Wire's Matt Legros wrote Sept. 7 that Nabers has produced well against Dallas in each of his last three meetings with the team, provided he plays; the Giants have not yet published a Week 1 injury report.