Victor Cruz last week signed off on a five-year contract extension worth $43 million. Looking back, the 26-year-old sees what some of the NFL’s higher-paid receivers are making and says his new deal does not measure up.
“I’m not going to say it’s easy when you see guys getting these huge paydays and you feel like you’re at the same caliber, if not better than some of those guys,’’ Cruz said yesterday on Sirius XM Radio.
The Giants’ contractual obligation to Cruz is nearly $46 million for the next six years, as he’s signed through the 2018 season. He desperately wanted to stay and play close to his Paterson, N.J., home and that desire prompted him to accept less than he feels he might have received if he ever became an unrestricted free agent.
“You ask yourself, would you want to play for this amount in New York and play in the best city in the world and play football — and I’m a hometown kid — and be close to home and your mom and your family,’’ Cruz said, “or do you want to take a big payday and go somewhere like, you know Kansas City or Minnesota, where your family might not be able to come as often as you want and you’re living in a city you’re not too familiar with and it’s an adjustment for you? You have to take all those things into account as well.’’
Receivers such as Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson and Mike Wallace all have deals averaging more than $10 million per year, a figure Cruz felt he deserved from the Giants, considering he has more receptions (168) for more yards (2,628) and more touchdowns (19) the past two seasons than all of the above.
As a restricted free agent, no other team was willing to give up a first-round draft pick as compensation for him and thus no other team made him an offer. The Giants basically stood pat for months with their offer and Cruz eventually relented and signed. He got $15.6 million in guaranteed money and the richest contract for a receiver in Giants history, but, in his mind, it wasn’t up to market value.
Cruz is now the 18th highest-paid receiver in the league, but he’s viewed as a slot receiver and more of a No. 2 receiver than a bona fide lead receiver. He was undrafted coming out of UMass and he did not consider playing this season for the one-year tender of $2.879 million and then testing the waters as an restricted free agent.
“I couldn’t go another year with that on my mind,” Cruz said. “Answering all these questions from [the media] and stuff like that. I’m glad to get it over with.”