Giants get down to 53-player limit: Davis Webb cut, Darius Slayton on team — for now

The latest answers in the “will he or won’t he?’’ debates were answered Tuesday as the Giants made their cuts to get down to the 53-player limit. For now, it is a no for quarterback Davis Webb and a yes for wide receiver Darius Slayton.

For now.

Webb was waived despite a solid showing this summer. Slayton was retained despite a training camp and preseason slowed by injury, as he seemingly did not gain much traction with the new coaching staff. Both of these decisions are subject to change, of course, as the Giants are expected to be active on the waiver wire and players who made this cut will not be around by the end of the week. This is very much the “initial’’ 53-man roster.

This is unlikely to be goodbye for Webb, who at the very least could return on the practice squad, unless another team wants to sign him to its roster.

Sometimes a player does all he can to make the team but there is no place to put him. This is what happened to Webb. Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor are ahead of Webb on the depth chart, though, and, given the needs elsewhere, keeping three quarterbacks on the roster seemingly is not a move the Giants want to make.

“Relative to our roster management, that’s where we went at this point,’’ coach Brian Daboll said. “I think Davis has done a really good job. We’ll see how that all unfolds.’’

This is not the first time Webb was let go by the Giants. He is a 2017 third-round draft pick and spent his rookie year on the practice squad. He did not make the team in 2018, cut in favor of Kyle Lauletta, a draft pick of a new front office regime.

Webb spent one year on the Jets’ practice squad and the past three seasons with the Bills on their practice squad. Those three years gave him a full indoctrination into Daboll’s offensive system — Daboll was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo. That familiarity showed, as Webb completed 60 of 81 passes for 458 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his three preseason games.

“I think with how he played in the preseason and training camp you see his comfort in the system and how well he knew it,’’ Jones said. “That was a big part of all of us picking it up and learning it and he has been huge for that process.”

Taylor was forced out of the game last Sunday with a back injury but Daboll said Taylor should be fine.

Webb, 27, has made no secret of his desire to go into coaching but he wants to extinguish his opportunities as a player before moving on.

Slayton survived this round of cuts but it is no secret the Giants would trade him away if they can locate a deal that makes sense, considering he counts $2.5 million on the salary cap and he has not made a comfortable adjustment into Daboll’s passing attack. He has been slowed with a hamstring issue and was able to get on the field for the preseason finale.

“Yeah, we’ll see,’’ Daboll said of Slayton. “We’ll see where we’re at right now. We had a good conversation with Darius about expectation and role. He’s done a good job and we’re excited to have him.

“He had that little injury that he’s fighting through it. Right before that injury for that week, Patriots week, he was doing a good job at practice where you could see his speed and he did a good job with us.’’

Slayton, 25, caught eight touchdown passes as a rookie in 2019 and had 98 receptions his first two years before a dip last season. He knows he was pushed back on the depth chart this summer and that his name has come up in trade talks.

“Time will tell,’’ Slayton said. “I’m here today, and hopefully here going forward. Obviously, I’d love to be here, to keep playing with Mr. Jones. This is a great place. This is one of the best organizations in the world as far as sports go. I’d love to be here.’’

As for possibly being dealt away, Slayton said, “If people are calling them about me, that’s them. Obviously, their job is to do what’s best for them. Like, if the Rams call them and they’re like, ‘Hey, we’ll give you Aaron Donald for Darius Slayton,’ I’d make that trade, too. They field the calls because that’s their job. I don’t take it personal, though.’’

Daboll is a first-time head coach after 21 years as an NFL assistant. This was the first time he was the first to inform players they had been cut.

“That relationship that you build when you have to tell somebody that they didn’t make it,’’ Daboll said. “That’s always, at least for me, that’s tough.’’