Victor Cruz has officially lost control of his own destiny. The New York Giants wide receiver was essentially backed into a corner and signed his free-agent tender worth $2.879 million. The Pro Bowler has been searching for a long-term contract from New York, but negotiations have not gone well, forcing Cruz to give in.
Signing the tender does give Cruz some financial stability as he continues to negotiate a new contract with the team. He will not be able to hold out during training camp without being fined. Cruz reportedly wants a deal worth $9-10 million in salary and turned down an offer of $7 million. If the two sides cannot come to agreement on an extension, Cruz will play out the year on the $2.8 million salary and then likely get franchised next year.
An NFL agent reports that it seems highly unlikely that Cruz will get any kind of offer higher than the one already on the table. They have the receiver under contract now and they will not raise the contract offer before training camp.
"If you're Victor Cruz, you're never getting paid by the Giants, ever. They've never had an $11 million receiver, you're not gonna be it. They had every opportunity to lock you up-they've given you exactly what they feel you're worth. You can disagree until the cows come home, it does not matter. And now you're going to go out there and help make them better, which is going to make them stronger. If you can live with that, then that's what you should do," an anonymous agent said.
Cruz has essentially lost any leverage he had when he signed the tender. He could have held out of the entire season without any repercussions and still had a slight upper hand on the team. He would have been able to hit the open market and gotten his true value with another team. The Giants can prevent Cruz from hitting the open market until 2015, making this year essentially worthless for Cruz in terms of gaining a new contract off of playing ability. Now Cruz will likely play the next two years for slightly over $13 million in total salary.
In the past two seasons, Cruz has racked up 2,628 yards and 19 touchdowns for the Giants. That included a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2012 and a Super Bowl touchdown in 2011. His market value is much higher than $13 million over the next two seasons, but Cruz has given up that opportunity.
