The NY Giants will not see victor Cruz return to the field in 2015, as the wide receiver has announced that he will have surgery on his injured calf, ending his season. The Giants have been using Dwayne Harris and Myles White as slot players for Eli Manning on offense and now that Cruz is officially done for the year, fantasy owners could look at those names as options into Week 12 after the Giants bye week.
The Giants have not had Cruz healthy all season and now the wide receiver will be out for the rest of the year. Cruz released the news through a video on Bleacher Report, saying that it's "a tough thing to go through emotionally, physically." Cruz has tried to come back from the calf injury multiple times this season, but he has not been able to get things going and he has not played in a game since last year when he was injured against the Eagles.
Cruz tore his patellar tendon and had surgery after that injury and after rehabbing from that injury, Cruz suffered the calf injury in the preseason. Cruz appeared ready to come back in Week 4 for the Giants, but he aggravated the injury and continued to try and come back. Media reports had Week 12 after the Giants bye as a target for Cruz to return, but now the wide receiver will be out for the rest of the season. According to Ralph Vacchiano at the New York Daily News, Cruz re-injured the calf on Saturday while running drills in practice and after being evaluated by doctors, he decided to have surgery.
Vacchiano writes that Cruz's future with the Giants could be up in the air after having surgery, as his contract does not have any more guaranteed money on it. Cruz signed a five-year, $43 million contract extension in 2013 and with his cap hit going up to near $10 million next season, there is a chance the Giants could ask Cruz to take a pay cut. Cruz has three years and $24 million left on his deal and the Giants will have to decide this offseason how they want to handle things moving forward.
Dwayne Harris and Myles White played well for the Giants on Sunday in the loss against the Patriots and those players could continue to step up now that Cruz knows he will not be coming back. Harris has been making an impact over the past three weeks with three touchdowns scored and this season he has 25 catches and has also been one of the best kick returners in the league.
The Giants lost a tight game against the Patriots on Sunday with a late field goal and that play came after the team could not get the potential winning touchdown on the previous drive. The Giants had Odell Beckham with the chance to score, but he could not hold onto the ball long enough and Malcolm Butler was able to knock it out, forcing it to be called and incomplete pass after a replay review.