Midway through the Giants’ championship season, Victor Cruz had already supplanted Mario Manningham on the depth chart and on the field and exploded onto the NFL scene as one of the NFL’s breakout stars. Manningham is gone, signed with the 49ers, and Cruz understands his already-significant role is going to expand in 2012.
“I know I’m going to be asked to do a little bit more and just asked to be a little bit more accountable and get more targets,’’ Cruz said.
On Tuesday, Cruz was surrounded by so many members of the media that you would think he was back in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. He was the Giants player designated to model his team’s version of the NFL’s new Nike uniforms and, amid the frenzy, he conducted numerous interviews in two languages, English and Spanish.
Yet there was one word he did not care to speak. Yes, he previously has stated he feels he deserves a big raise after his breakout 2011 season. No, he will not hold out in order to get more money.
“That’s not in my vocabulary . . . I don’t even know what it means,’’ said Cruz at the Nike event at Steiner Studios at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
At this time last year, no one would have chosen Cruz to model anything having to do with the Giants, considering he did not have a single NFL reception. He came up with a team-leading 82 of them last season, along with a franchise-record 1,536 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. He kept up the torrid pace during the four-game playoff run and hauled in a touchdown pass in the Super Bowl as the Giants upset the Patriots 21-17.
With all that, Cruz this season is scheduled to make $540,000 in base salary, the minimum salary for a third-year player. It is not out of the realm of possibility the Giants will try to upgrade Cruz’ contract before this season but they are under no obligation to do so.
“I’m not frustrated at all,’’ Cruz said. “When I was young it wasn’t about money, it wasn’t about fame and fortune. It was just about playing football. So regardless of how short-term this career can be I just want to go out there and play. All that [contract] stuff will take care of itself.
“You just got to remain humble and remain yourself and understand all the good things are going to come to you in time.’’
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DE Dave Tollefson is making the rounds. He visited with the Packers this past weekend, met Tuesday with the Raiders and also is scheduled to speak with the Titans. Given this interest, there’s little chance he will accept the offer on the table to return to the Giants.
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Jason Witten, a teammate with the Cowboys of new Giants tight end Martellus Bennett, said he thinks Bennett can flourish in a disciplined system.
“I think he fits that offense in a lot of ways,’’ Witten said. “I know he kind of fits that power offense and Mike Pope is one of the best tight- ends coaches there is. Anybody who plays the position knows that about him. He does a good job of eliminating distractions and allowing his players to be the best.
“I think he’s done that for many, many years, going back to [Jeremy] Shockey and taking a guy like [Jake] Ballard, who’s undrafted and getting him to play at a high level. So a key component in that is Mike and that system. Coach [Tom] Coughlin, [has] no tolerance for any of that stuff. If you leave those distractions aside, Martellus is going to do a good job.’’