It is not up to him, of course, but Victor Cruz says there is an “80 percent’’ chance he returns to the Giants for the 2016 season.
Cruz, currently rehabbing after calf surgery, made the comment to USA Today’s For The Win blog, perhaps picking that exact percentage because he wears No. 80.
Cruz is 29 years old and has not played much football the past two seasons. He missed the entire 2015 season due to a calf injury that eventually required surgery. He missed the final 10 games in 2014 after suffering a serious knee injury, rupturing his patellar tendon in a game against the Eagles in Philadelphia. He has not played in an NFL game since October 2014.
The problem for the Giants is Cruz is scheduled to cost them a great deal of money. He is on the books for $7.9 million in salary for 2016 and will count $9.9 million on the salary cap. That is a huge chunk of change for a player who has missed the past 26 games and seen his No. 1 receiver spot wrested away by Odell Beckham Jr. Cruz is on the books for $7.4 million in base salary in 2017.
At this point, the Giants have not asked Cruz to take a pay cut. They could have nearly $60 million to spend in free agency and might not need to get any cap relief from the popular receiver. But it is unlikely they will proceed into the season with Cruz as the second highest-paid player on the team and such a medical uncertainty. Eli Manning, set to make $17.5 million in 2016, tops the Giants’ salary list.
There is no way for the Giants to know if Cruz can make a complete recovery after two serious surgeries, and there is a need to refortify the receiver position. Rueben Randle is an unrestricted free agent, and of the returning players, there is no legitimate No. 2 or 3 receiver on the roster.