Giants, Cruz getting closer

[Herc]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/cruz-giants-closer-completion-contract-article-1.1344350

 

 

NY Giants and Victor Cruz are nearing long-term deal for star wide receiver

 

Cruz, who was once seeking a contract worth $10 million-$11 million per season, has apparently lowered his demands to a payday much closer to what the Giants are offering. That offer, sources have told the Daily News, is worth nearly $8 million per year.

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BY RALPH VACCHIANO AND EBENEZER SAMUEL / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2013, 11:44 PM

 

 

 

 

 

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KATHY WILLENS/AP

 

Victor Cruz could be salsa dancing his way to a deal that pays him over $8 million per season with the Giants.

 

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Every day, Victor Cruz gets a little closer to the long-term contract with the Giants he has been seeking for months — a contract both sides now seem certain will eventually get done.

The only mystery that remains is when that long-awaited agreement will finally be reached between the Giants and their restricted free-agent receiver. As of Tuesday night, one source familiar with the negotiations insisted “nothing is imminent.”

But that could change at any moment, the source said, because progress between the two sides has definitely been made.

The catalyst for the change apparently came in March when Cruz fired his agent, Malik Shareef, and signed on with Tom Condon’s Creative Artists Agency. Cruz, who was once seeking a contract worth $10 million-$11 million per season, has apparently lowered his demands to a payday much closer to what the Giants are offering. That offer, sources have told the Daily News, is worth nearly $8 million per year.

Sources on both sides have been optimistic for weeks that a deal will be struck sooner than later — probably in time for the Giants’ mandatory, full-team minicamp that begins on June 11, and possibly even in time for Cruz to return for some of the Giants’ organized team activity (OTA) sessions that begin next week.

Cruz also has the option of signing his restricted free agent tender offer — worth $2.879 million — at any time if a deal isn’t reached. And if Cruz hasn’t signed something by June 17, the Giants can reduce that offer to $630,000.

The risk of having more than $2 million pulled off the table is a good reason why Cruz is likely to sign something sometime in the next 33 days.

UPI /LANDOV

 

Model Damaris Lewis strikes pose with Cruz Tuesday at BTIG’s Commissions for Charity Day.

Cruz, though, has not said publicly what his intentions are. Though he’s made many public appearances over the last few months, he purposely has said almost nothing about his contract situation. Even as his teammates and Giants officials have constantly fielded questions on the subject, Cruz — heeding the advice of his new advisers — has essentially remained tight-lipped.

“I think it’s smart,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said at the BTIG 11th annual Commissions for Charity Day on Tuesday in midtown, an event also attended by Cruz, who mostly said nothing of substance. “It’s a good idea for him. There’s nothing he can say right now that could make anything better or worse. I think it’s best to kind of lay low.”

This silent Cruz is hardly the salsa-dancing player fans have come to love. Last offseason, on the heels of the Giants’ improbable Super Bowl run, Cruz was among the team’s most visible players, doing a host of media events and commercials and routinely speaking to the press. But the tumult surrounding his contract has led to a quieter superstar this offseason.

And Manning expects that this won’t change until Cruz and the Giants have finally agreed to a long-term deal.

“He’s going to probably lay low until this deal is done, and he can put it behind him, and get back to playing football,” Manning said.

The quarterback added that he does expect a deal to get done soon, especially with the Giants’ offseason training program starting to kick into high gear.

”I think so,” he said. “And when you say ‘soon,’ I hope he’s able to get something done where he can get into these OTAs and get into minicamp and have a few weeks of getting some live work and have some times and reps and things and just put some thoughts in his head on things we need to improve on for next season.”

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/giants/cruz-giants-closer-completion-contract-article-1.1344350#ixzz2TOcSdy1E

[BleedinBlue]

First practices start in 2 days (May 17th). I think he doesn't want to miss a practice and he's simply holding out right up until it's time to suit up on Friday.