After staying away from the New York Giants’ offseason workouts because of dissatisfaction with his contract, wide receiver Darius Slayton returned to the field this week for practices with the NFL team.

“I’m satisfied,” Slayton said on Thursday. “We got what we needed to get done. Just looking forward to getting back to playing ball. …

“We just adjusted my contract this year a little bit. Just try to make it a little more lucrative. But business is business, and I’m here.”

The former Auburn standout signed a two-year, $12 million contract with New York last year, then had 50 receptions for 770 yards and four touchdowns in 2023 to lead the Giants in receiving yards for the fourth time in his five NFL seasons.

ESPN reported the Giants added $650,000 in incentives to Slayton’s contract for the 2024 season, boosting the total available to be earned in bonuses to $2.15 million. What Slayton needs to do to earn the incentive money has not been reported.

Slayton did not get any money added to his $2.5 million salary for 2024.

“I think anybody does, you know,” Slayton said when asked if he wanted more guaranteed money. “At the end of the day, playing a game I love, a game I dreamed about playing since I was a kid, so happy to be back with my teammates ready to go.”

Except for mandatory minicamp, scheduled for the Giants on June 11-13, attendance at the offseason program is voluntary for players.

“Right now, I don’t think there’s anything negative to Darius,” New York assistant general manager Brandon Brown said on Thursday. “The time here recently has been voluntary. He hasn’t had to be here. One, glad that he’s back. Two, gave him a big hug this morning and was, like, having not seen him for the duration of the OTA process.

“One, I’m glad Darius is back. When you look at the totality of the message it sends to the locker room, everyone knows there’s a difference between the personal and the professional and not blending how you feel about the person. We all love Darius. There’s sometimes disagreements between families, but you find a way to find common ground, which we did, and you move forward.

“We’re happy that he’s here, and we’re happy to keep moving forward with him. He’s back like he never left.”

As a wide receiver, Slayton will be dependent on more than his ability to produce the statistics that could be needed to reach his extra incentive pay.

“You’ve got to be a little delusional,” Slayton said about playing wide receiver. “You’ve got to think the ball is coming all the time, even if it may or may not. Just kind of trick yourself. At the end of the day, you can only measure yourself by when the ball comes your way, did you catch it? If it didn’t come your way, were you open? That’s kind of the reality of being a receiver.”

Since the Giants chose Slayton at No. 171 in the 2019 NFL Draft, New York has selected four wide receivers from the SEC — Florida’s Kadarius Toney at No. 20 in 2021, Kentucky’s Wan’Dale Robinson at No. 43 in 2022, Tennessee’s Jalin Hyatt at No. 73 in 2023 and LSU’s Malik Nabers at No. 6 in 2024.

“A lot of rivals now,” Slayton said about Saturdays during the football season. “I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.”

The Giants traded Toney to the Kansas City Chiefs during the 2022 season. Robinson has 83 receptions for 752 yards and two touchdowns in 21 games in two seasons. Hyatt had 23 receptions for 373 yards as a rookie.

“I try to just live in the moment, live in this year, enjoying my time with them, enjoying my time around them,” Slayton said about the competition for targets. “Who knows what the future holds? I can’t know it anyway, so I just try to be my best day in and day out.”

Slayton said he thought he could continue to be productive even with the increase in talent at his position on the Giants’ depth chart.

“Multiple receivers play at the same time,” Slayton said. “The ball can go to lots of places. …

“You’ve got Tyreek (Hill) and Jaylen (Waddle). They both get a thousand. Ja’Marr (Chase) and Tee (Higgins). There’s a bunch of receiver tandems, even trios in the league, that all have a chance to feed and get the ball. At the end of the day, it’s on the coaches to kind of distribute the ball and get it to the guys they feel do the best with it in their hands. My job is to be one of those best guys.”

Preparing for his sixth NFL season, Slayton has more experience than all but Allen Robinson II and Isaiah McKenzie among New York’s 14 wide receivers.

“Honestly, no, but ironically, I am probably,” Slayton said when asked if he felt like an “elder statesman” in the wide-receivers room. “Got a good six or five years of age on these guys now, so I guess I am. I still feel like I’m pretty young.”

Including Friday’s workout, the Giants have eight practices remaining in their offseason program before breaking until training camp.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.