Giants May Consider Moving On From Victor Cruz In 2016 Unless He Returns To Form?

Former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry mentions that unless Giants WR Victor Cruz is able to return to form once his calf injury has healed, New York may not be willing to pay him the $8 million he’s scheduled to make next year.

Cruz has been sidelined for the first three games of the season, due to a calf injury he sustained a back in August. However, he unfortunately suffered a setback during Wednesday’s practice and is now without a timetable to return.

This comes after Cruz ruptured his patellar tendon last year, which cost him the remainder of the season and limited him to appearing in just six games.

Cruz, 28, is in the third year of his six-year, $45.879 million contract that included $15.625 million guaranteed and a $9.5 million signing bonus. He’ll make base salaries of $6.15 million (2015), $7.9 million (2016), $7.4 million (2017), and $8.4 million (2018) over the remainder of the agreement.

Next year, Cruz carries a cap figure of $9.9 million and the Giants could free up $6.1 million in available cap space if they were to release him, according to OverTheCap.com. This move would also create $3.8 million in dead money for the Giants.

It’s worth mentioning that OTC projects the Giants to have over $38 million in available cap space next year, so even though Cruz represents their easiest source of cap room, the decision would likely come down to whether they thought he could return to his prior form.

In 2014, Cruz caught 23 passes for 337 yards receiving and a touchdown for the Giants over the course of six games.