On and on he went, waxing poetic about his six years with the Giants, how he loved almost every minute of it, except for suffering through far too much losing.
“So really, when we get this thing going in the right direction and start winning, I really couldn’t tell you a bad thing about this place,” Darius Slayton said Thursday.
With that, Slayton got to the heart of the matter:
“We’re just trying to fill that quarterback hole,” he said.
Oh yeah, that quarterback hole.
That quarterback chasm, more like it.
Slayton is the longest-tenured Giants player and it seemed as if that tenure had come to an end after last season.
There was no bad blood but there was an overarching feeling that Slayton wanted a fresh start elsewhere, somewhere he could run routes for an established quarterback and finally enjoy the fruits of his labor in a potent offensive attack.
His stay in free agency was short and sweet, as on the first day he could, he re-upped with the team that made him a fifth-round draft pick in 2019 on a three-year deal worth $36 million, giving him the most financial and football security of his career.
Of course, before he re-committed he wanted to hear from general manager Joe Schoen and head coach Brian Daboll what the plan was at quarterback.
“In free agency, that’s pretty important for a receiver, to know who’s going to be throwing the ball,’’ Slayton said. “So me, Dabes and Joe had those discussions and I believe in the vision that they have and the plan that they have. I think they’re going to get somebody in here that’s going to be able to spin it and lead us in the right direction.’’
There is no way Schoen or Daboll could give Slayton any promises, as the Giants, in many ways, are relegated to being reactionary, rather than proactive, when it comes to adding the most important player and most glaring missing ingredient to the roster.
Russell Wilson, 36, will arrive Thursday night and meet with the Giants at their team facility on Friday, coming straight from Cleveland after speaking with the Browns.
At this point, signing Wilson is far more likely than reeling in Aaron Rodgers, who is taking his time deciding between the Giants, Steelers and possibly the Vikings or maybe even retirement.
The Giants, after failing to lure Matthew Stafford away from the Rams, set their sights on the 41-year old Rodgers, a Jets castoff and future Hall of Famer, but there is no strong reason to believe Rodgers will pick the Giants.
Slayton, 28, got one season with Eli Manning and was a staunch Daniel Jones supporter — they were draft classmates and became good friends — and the bulk of his 259 career receptions and 21 touchdowns were via connections with Jones.
The Giants have moved on, Jones is now with the Colts and Slayton needs a new quarterback.
If the Giants ask Slayton to make a recruiting pitch, he is all-in.
“Honestly I would tell ‘em we’ve got a lot of young, talented players, specifically pass catchers and we’ve a very quarterback-friendly unit,” Slayton said. “I think for a veteran quarterback or for a young quarterback, either way he’d be coming into a good situation with good players and you’ve got two great tackles, so you’re safe, you got weapons. I think any quarterback should look at this situation as the sky’s the limit.’’
That might be laying it on a little thick, but Slayton, and the Giants, are desperate with this search.
If it is Rodgers, Slayton is all aboard.
“Personally I think Aaron Rodgers is probably the greatest quarterback ever as a pure thrower of the ball to ever play football,” Slayton said. “So I have a ton of respect for Aaron. And I know everybody loves in this league, once you get a little older, it happens to everybody, like, ‘He doesn’t got it anymore’ or whatever. But I think Aaron Rodgers has shown he can still spin it.
“Obviously if we get him, I would love to play with him. It’s not often in this league you get a chance to play with a Hall of Fame, all-time quarterback. I had the pleasure of playing with one my rookie year, and I think being able to play with two in a career is definitely not a blessing that I understate.”
If it is Wilson, Slayton is all-in as well.
“Well, selfishly, I think in his career he’s been noted for having a great deep ball so I love that, of course,” he said. “Other than that, he’s somebody who’s won in this league, he’s played well in this league for a long time, played well last year for the Steelers so clearly he’s still got gas in the tank. If he’s who we bringing in here, or whoever we bring in, we’ll embrace him and do our best to rally around him.”