Jordan’s Serial: Cruz Control in New York
Sometimes you just have to be realistic. The contract extension signing by the New York Giants of their Pro Bowl wide receiver Victor Cruz this past Monday does make them a legit contender.
Yes, the ongoing “Will he? Won’t he?” drama surrounding the fourth year salsa dancing star, finally saw pen to paper and moved Cruz up the earning list amongst his wide receivers. The deal was settled on a five year extension valued at $43m, add to this the free agent tender signed in mid-June it effectively becomes a six-year deal. The value of his signing could be a lot greater though as there is no doubting his position in the team. He was a huge part of the reason why the Giants won the Super Bowl two years ago.
In the defence of their title last year, they went 9-7 and missed the playoffs, but the Giants have never been historically good at backing up their title successes. They are an organisation that is strong in its fundamentals, and it’s in this strength they found themselves not being bullied around by Cruz. They knew they would be stronger with him, and always knew that if they stood strong they would still have their man. Now he has signed they are immediately a better team.
He has now vowed to help convince his partner in the Giants’ passing game, Hakeem Nicks, stick around a bit longer. The duo will be feared by most secondaries, and by having a perfect foil in Nicks, Victor Cruz knows his game will only get stronger and his numbers potentially bigger.
“Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to put the pressure on him to come back and see if he wants to play with me for the long haul and see if we can do this together for a couple of years,” Cruz said, via the New York Daily News. “We’ll see how it goes”.
