Long Island's Matthew Sluka to attend Giants rookie minicamp, source says
Matthew Sluka of James Madison before a game against Washington State at Bridgeforth Stadium on November 22, 2025 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Credit: Getty Images/Brien Aho
The Giants don’t necessarily need a new quarterback on their roster this season because they have Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston, but they do need one for their rookie minicamp this weekend. Long Island’s Matthew Sluka will have the opportunity to fill that role as a tryout.
Sluka, a Locust Valley product who played at Kellenberg High School in Uniondale and most recently at James Madison University in Virginia, will be among the draft picks, undrafted free agents and other tryouts on the fields in East Rutherford, New Jersey, a source told Newsday.
While Sluka is not guaranteed a spot on the team beyond this camp, the Giants have signed tryouts from their rookie events in the past, including Tommy DeVito in 2023. DeVito eventually became a starter for the Giants in 2023 and is now the backup for the Patriots.
Sluka’s ability to run and throw makes him very much like Dart, which should allow the Giants to begin installing their actual offense as draft picks including lineman Francis Mauigoa and wide receiver Malachi Fields make their on-field debuts for the team.
After his senior season as an All-Long Island quarterback at Kellenberg in 2018, Sluka went to prep school and then Holy Cross where he was the 2023 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. He threw for 1,728 yards and 20 touchdowns and ran for 1,247 yards and nine touchdowns that season. He set a Division I single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 330 on 28 carries against Lafayette. He then transferred to UNLV and was named their starting quarterback but left the team after three games reportedly due to a disagreement over payments promised to him in the transfer process.
Sluka sat out the rest of the 2024 season and transferred to James Madison. Last season, he was the backup quarterback but appeared in eight games. He attempted just 11 passes but three of them were for touchdowns and he rushed for three other scores.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
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