Will he or won't he? That is the question regarding the future of Hakeem Nicks and the New York Giants. The wide receiver will be a free agent at the end of the season and is expecting to get paid big bucks by a team. As the Giants struggle on the season, many wonder if Nicks will walk away when the year is a rap. According to offensive lineman David Diehl, the wide receiver is all but gone in 2014.
Regardless of how Nicks plays for the remainder of the year, he becomes a free agent and can test the market if he so chooses. When asked about the chances the top wide receiver re-signs with the Giants, Diehl simply said he did not see that happening.
"I would love to see it, he is like a brother to me, he lived with me when he first got drafted by the Giants because we have the same agent. So I knew him coming out of college. But for the sheer fact that we just paid Victor Cruz, there is a lot of money to be had and Hakeem Nicks is a No. 1 receiver and someone is going to pay him that money," Diehl said, via NBC Pro Football Talk.
These types of comments certainly are not a shock. The Giants made Cruz the priority in the offseason giving the receiver a top-dollar contract. The team opted to let Nicks play out the final year of his contract with the intention of possibly re-signing him, but gave no guarantees. Nicks will be an expensive player either way. A one-year franchise tag will cost New York $10 million. If he hits free agency, team's will be willing to pay him big money despite his struggles this year. With Cruz having more than $15 million in guaranteed cash in his six-year deal, there might not be room for Nicks.
Nicks was one of the biggest names being floated around during the NFL trade deadline, all but confirming his future in New York coming to an end. However 4 p.m. Tuesday came and went and Nicks is still with the team. Coaches are now hoping the receiver will turn on the jets for the back half of the season.
"That's what I think is going to drive him for the rest of the season," receivers coach Kevin M. Gilbride said, via New York Daily News. "I think you're going to see the plays being made. And this is my true belief in my heart: that he's getting closer and closer to erupting and making those huge plays that we've seen him make in the past."
So far on the year, Nicks has 521 yards on 34 catches and zero touchdowns. Granted the Giants have only won two games, but if the receiver is going to get big money and have a say in his future then he must start to step up.
