Victor Cruz Wants At Least $9 Million Per Year
By Josh Sanchez
Victor Cruz made his way to the New York Giants facility on Friday afternoon to ink his one-year, $2.87 million restricted free agent tender. While he is now officially under contract and obligated to attend the team’s training camp. There is still hopes of reaching an agreement that will get the wide receiver/salsa dancer a long-term deal before the start of the season.
Unfortunately for Cruz, it appears that the two sides are still far apart.
"After months of talking and a switch of agents, though, the two sides aren’t much closer than they’ve been for the last few weeks. According to one source who has been in contact with Cruz’s camp, the Giants’ latest offer is worth an average of more than $8 million per season. But word is that Cruz, who was once looking to be paid the $11 million per year that No. 1 receivers have been getting in free agency lately, is refusing to settle for anything less an average of $9 million.With a still sizeable gap – and possibly a more significant gap in guaranteed money – there is no guarantee that Cruz will have a long-term deal in place before training camp opens on July 26"
With no long term deal in place, it is still possible that Cruz could hold out of training camp.
If he does decide to hold out, Cruz would be subject to $30,000 in fines per day. That may seem like a solid chunk of change, but Cruz risked losing over $2 million in guaranteed money if he didn’t sign his restricted free agent tender today. That was a big motivation for putting his signature on the contract.
Ultimately, it is hard to imagine a situation where Cruz becomes a lengthy hold out. If he does, second-year receiver Rueben Randle appears ready to jump in the mix and take on a major role in the Giants offense.