The Indianapolis Colts have moved on from Darius Slayton, ending a short and unproductive stint for the veteran receiver just weeks after they brought him in to help replace Alec Pierce’s downfield presence.
Indianapolis announced Friday that it had released Slayton, the eighth-year wideout the team signed days after Pierce went on Injured Reserve with a reaggravated heel injury in Week 2. Slayton never really got rolling in Colts blue.
He spent his first two games as a healthy scratch, then sat out Sunday’s road game against the Pittsburgh Steelers because of a knee injury he picked up last Friday. He had returned to practice this week, but the Colts were already ready to part ways.
Slayton’s arrival was supposed to give the offense a vertical option after Pierce, the team’s top wide receiver and best deep threat, was shelved. Instead, the Colts are back to searching for that missing piece.
Auburn product Darius Slayton came into the league as a fifth-round pick by the New York Giants in the 2019 NFL Draft, the same year the Giants used a first-round pick on current Colts quarterback Daniel Jones. The two were teammates until Jones was released midway through the 2024 season.
In seven seasons with the Giants, Slayton started 78 of 106 games and produced 296 catches on 522 targets for 4,435 yards, a 15.0-yard average, and 22 touchdowns. In 2025, he started 12 of 14 games for New York, recording 37 receptions on 63 targets for 538 yards, a 14.5-yard average, and one score. He had core-muscle surgery in the 2026 offseason and was cut by the Giants just before the regular-season opener after the team rebuilt its receiver room.
Now the Colts’ receiving group looks thin on proven vertical juice. Josh Downs, Keenan Allen, and Laquon Treadwell are mostly chain-movers, Ashton Dulin has been limited by injuries, and Anthony Gould is primarily a special teams piece.
Deion Burks has speed and has seen a couple of downfield chances, but those throws have not connected. On the practice squad, Indianapolis has Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, Quez Watkins, and Eli Pancol, while Pierce and D.J.
Montgomery remain on IR.
Without Slayton and with Pierce still sidelined, the Colts continue to search for a legitimate downfield threat to unlock a passing game that has been held in check early this season and is nowhere near the fast start they produced a year ago.
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