The Giants don’t have a No. 1 wide receiver.

Or do they?

The negative has been stated so many times now that it is accepted as fact and serves as fuel for frequent speculation: Should the Giants trade for a disgruntled Stefon Diggs? Should the Giants sign aging free agent DeAndre Hopkins? How many catches will tight end Darren Waller make in his first season as the Giants’ de facto go-to receiver?

All the while the underappreciated Darius Slayton is lying in the weeds, letting the spotlight burn brighter within his own position group on the health of Sterling Shepard and Wan’Dale Robinson, the speed of Parris Campbell and Jalin Hyatt, the ascension of Isaiah Hodgins.

“I wouldn’t say it bothers me because everybody doesn’t know what I know,” Slayton said recently when asked by The Post about his lack of respect around the league. “Everybody is not in the Giants’ building. At the end of the day, you can only judge based on what you see from afar.”

The Giants, who didn’t have a receiver reach 100 yards in any of their nine regular-season wins last season, are one of 13 NFL teams that has featured the same leader in receiving yards in at least three of the past four seasons.

Slayton, who has 170 catches for 2,554 yards and 15 touchdowns in 59 games (40 starts) over his first four NFL seasons, appears on that list next to future Hall of Famers, Offensive Player of the Year winners, All-Pros, Pro Bowlers and contract record-setters.

Surprised? Here is the full group of three- or four-time leading receivers from 2019-22: Diggs (Bills), Justin Jefferson (Vikings), Davante Adams (Packers), Cooper Kupp (Rams), A.J. Brown (Titans), Travis Kelce (Chiefs), Mark Andrews (Ravens), Terry McLaurin (Commanders), D.J. Moore (Panthers), Diontae Johnson (Steelers), Brandin Cooks (Texans), Jakobi Meyers (Patriots) and Slayton (740 yards in 2019, 751 in 2020 and 724 in 2022).

“You see this guy go for 1,010 [yards] or see a guy go for 100 yards every week, and you go, ‘He’s really good,’” Slayton said. “Some of these guys play with nobody. I play with Saquon [Barkley]. Where do you think the ball is going first? Not me. We had Shep, Evan Engram and now Darren.

“I didn’t play with just a bunch of bums. That’s a little annoying because at the end of the day, it’s not like I’ve ever been the only person or one person to get the ball, whereas somebody [else] is. It is what it is. At the end of the day, I just play to win. As long as the Giants win, I’ll be alright.”

Slayton’s theory is interesting because the exact opposite could be argued in cases such as Jefferson playing with Adam Thielen and Dalvin Cook or the pairings of Kupp with Robert Woods, Brown with Derrick Henry, Kelce with Tyreek Hill, Moore with Christian McCaffrey and Johnson with Najee Harris.

But it can’t  be argued Slayton couldn’t be kept down after the Giants spent big on free agent Golden Tate in 2019 … or after they spent bigger on free agent Kenny Golladay and used a first-round pick on Kadarius Toney in 2021 … or, most impressively, after Richie James, Hodgins and the second-round pick Robinson were handpicked by a new front office and coaching staff in 2022, which left Slayton as a healthy scratch for the season opener.

Slayton often traces the root of his connection with quarterback Daniel Jones to their first rookie minicamp together. He considers himself the most intolerant person of any slander toward Jones.

“I believe in myself. I believe in my ability. I believe in the work I put in the offseason,” Slayton said. “Whether we add 10 guys, whether we add all of you guys, I believe I’ll find my way on the field.”

Perhaps the biggest indication of Slayton’s underappreciated status came in free agency earlier this offseason.

The best comparison on the above list of 13 pass-catchers is Meyers, who, like Slayton, has never topped 1,000 yards in a season or made a Pro Bowl. And yet Meyers (235 catches for 2,758 yards and eight touchdowns in 60 games) received almost double the average annual salary (three years, $33 million) from the Raiders as Slayton received to re-sign with the Giants (two years, $12 million).

If drops — undoubtedly the biggest weakness in Slayton’s game — are holding him back, consider he has 23 over four seasons compared to fellow 2019 draft pick Johnson’s 31. Johnson, a one-time 1,000-yard receiver and Pro Bowler, “held in” for a two-year, $36.7 million extension — about three times Slayton’s average annual value — before last season.

What Slayton lacks in sure-handedness, he makes up for in explosiveness.

Here is another impressive list: Slayton is one of five NFL receivers to average at least 15 yards per catch on at least 150 catches over the past four seasons — his 15.0 yards per catch is tied for third with Corey Davis (Jets, Titans) and Mike Evans (Buccaneers), trailing only Brown (Titans, Eagles) and Mike Williams (Chargers).

“I was going back watching all our games again just straight through,” head coach Brian Daboll told Slayton one day as they walked off the practice field together, as seen on Giants.com . “You were inactive Week 1. So proud of you, buddy. Done such a great job.”

“Nothing that a little work can’t fix,” Slayton replied, as Daboll respectfully patted Slayton’s helmet.

“Exactly what we’re all about,” Daboll said.

So, a word of warning: Before declaring that the offseason upgrades made to receiver personnel or the evolution of second-year offensive coordinator Mike Kafka’s scheme or any other factor might lead to a new team-leading receiver, consider the evidence that Slayton might just prove the Giants had a No. 1 receiver waiting for the right opportunity to show he belongs in that conversation.

Tick, tick, tick.

That’s the sound of the clock running down inside 11 days on the deadline for the Giants and Saquon Barkley to agree on a contract extension.

If no deal is reached by July 17, and Barkley chooses to skip training camp as a message about playing on the unwelcomed franchise tag, the Giants will turn to Matt Breida, rookie Eric Gray, Gary Brightwell and Jashuan Corbin.

Add in fullback Chris Myarick and it’s a backfield that uses just $4.9 million of collective salary-cap space — the third-lowest total in the league, according to Spotrac.

It also would project to be one of the least productive backfields.

“We have a talented group,” said new Giants running backs coach Jeff Nixon, who previously coached for the Eagles, Dolphins, 49ers and Panthers. “In the NFL these days especially, you have to be three- or four-deep strong at the position, and I feel we have that at this time.”

It is possible Nixon actually believes his assessment — instead of spewing coachspeak to pump players with confidence — because he was the Panthers running back coach last season, when they averaged 151.6 rushing yards per game after trading Christian McCaffrey in Week 7.

And yet if the Panthers really believed a combination of D’Onta Foreman and Chubba Hubbard was sustainable, general manager Scott Fitterer probably would’ve re-signed Foreman rather than ponying up for Miles Sanders on the top free-agent running back contract of the offseason.

Where will the Giants turn? When Barkley missed spring workouts, Breida took most of the first-team reps. There is little need for a roster move until it becomes clear whether or not Barkley would extend any absence into September.

“Matt Breida [is] a great guy to have around to help some of our younger running backs,” Nixon said during minicamp. “Really understands the offense. He was with Coach Daboll in Buffalo, he’s been here, so he is in his second or third year in the offense.”

Breida averaged 5.2 yards on 276 carries over two years as the 49ers starter (2018-19), but he has just 139 total rushes since then for the Dolphins, Bills and Giants.

For perspective, Barkley carried 145 times over a six-game stretch when the Giants went 5-1 from Oct. 2 through Nov. 13, 2022. So, forget any delusions that the offense would operate the same without Barkley just because of blocking.

“I want to coach guys who can play on all three downs and be complete running backs, and I feel we have that,” Nixon said. “In today’s NFL, if you cannot block, it’s going to be hard to get on the field, no matter how good of a runner or pass-catcher you are.”

Nixon, a Penn State product like Barkley, called the two-time Pro Bowler “a great player” whose film he has studied in the past. They have “a little bit of a relationship,” Nixon said.

But Nixon quickly pivoted to describe Brightwell as an “arrow-up player,” teased that Corbin “will really be able to show what he can do during training camp” after spending last season on the practice squad and gushed over scouting Gray at Oklahoma.

“We evaluated Eric, not only in regards to what he did on the field physically but also mentally: How fast he would be able to learn offense?” Nixon said. “We’re throwing everything at him so that he is ready to go for training camp so that he can compete with everybody in that room.”

Here are two questions that have come up recently that we will attempt to answer as accurately as possible:

Will receiver Kenny Golladay ever play in the NFL again?

The Giants owed $4.5 million to Golladay even after cutting him in March. But that money is subject to offsets, according to The Athletic, which means any new contract signed for less than $4.5 million just comes off the Giants’ tab as it relates to which team pays what to Golladay.

So, there are only two reasons for Golladay, 29, to play this season.

First, a contract offer worth more than $4.5 million, which means he would be earning more by playing than he is by sitting at home.

At this point, it would be more foolish for a team to exceed the veteran minimum ($1.08 million) in an offer to Golladay than it was for the Giants to sign him to a four-year, $72 million free-agent contract ($40 million guaranteed) in 2021. At least he was only two seasons removed from an NFL-best 11 touchdowns at that time.

Second, if he has a desire to play beyond 2023.

Perhaps there is a team willing to overlook his lack of production (43 catches for 602 yards and one touchdown in 26 games over two seasons with the Giants) and invite Golladay to a tryout — if he is humble enough to accept such a proposal — or sign him during training camp with little guaranteed money just to evaluate how much is left in the tank.

But if he sits out the 2023 season … out of sight, out of mind, especially with the annual influx of young receiver talent creating a surplus.

Golden Tate never played another snap (he spent time on the Titans practice squad) after he was cut by the Giants in 2021 — and he was much more productive and in better physical condition at the end of his final season than was Golladay, who was robbed of his explosiveness by recurring leg and hip injuries.

There have been no reports of any team showing interest in Golladay during free agency. In short, it’s unlikely Golladay ever catches another NFL pass. That might go for practices, too.

Are there any available free agents who might bolster the Giants’ pass rush?

The most unexpected thing the Giants did this offseason was keep the same top four edge rushers: Kayvon Thibodeaux, Azeez Ojulari, Jihad Ward and Oshane Ximines. Especially given that Ojulari missed 10 games last season due to various injuries.

With $4.1 million in salary-cap space, according to NFLPA records, the Giants could try to steal a bargain veteran before camp opens on July 26.

Two of the top options, Yannick Ngakoue and Justin Houston, already are familiar to the staff, but that isn’t always a good thing.

Ngakoue spent six games under current Giants defensive line coach Andre Patterson with the 2021 Vikings before he was traded. Patterson later said he “can’t say it wasn’t a fit thing.”

In other words, neither will be looking to reunite because, as Patterson put it, “the way we play the run, the way we go about rushing the passer” is different from Ngakoue’s strengths.

Houston signed with the Ravens in 2021, when current Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale held the same position. Martindale gushed about Houston making the front more “flexible” and said Houston has a “knack of rushing the quarterback.”

Keep those words in mind if Martindale realizes help is needed during camp.

Other veterans who could provide situational pass rush — but might want to wait until August to sign to limit the wear and tear on their bodies — include Robert Quinn, Jadeveon Clowney, Carlos Dunlap and Trey Flowers.

That said, the Giants again are trying to make it through a season with as few contract restructures — forcing dead money onto the 2024 cap — as possible, and any cap space spent now makes that less likely.