Victor Cruz agreed to take a pay cut as the New York Giants restructured the 1-time Pro Bowler’s contract. Instead of making a base salary in the $8 million range with a total cap hit of more than $9 million, Cruz will now make around $1.3 million in base salary with a cap hit of $3.3 million, which is 10th most on the team for 2016. UPDATE (12:44pm, 3/10/16): Dan Graziano reports Cruz will actually make $3 million after the pay cut with $2.5 million in incentives. It appears, however, that Cruz is still scheduled to make $7.4 million and $8.4 million in base salary respectively in the final two years of the big contract he signed in 2013.
Victor Cruz's 2016 contract: base of $1.3M, playing time incentives up to $5.5M plus production incentives to recoup rest, per source. #NYG
— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) March 10, 2016
Source: Victor Cruz 2016 salary was cut from $7.9M to $3M. Can earn $2.5M more in production-based incentives. No changes to future years.
— Dan Graziano (@DanGrazianoESPN) March 10, 2016
In initial reports, according to NFL insider Ian Rappaport, Cruz was supposed to get $2.5 million total guaranteed for ’16, but can earn back an additional $3 million in per-game roster bonuses. In addition, he can earn the rest of the $7.9 million in other incentives.
When Victor Cruz laid on the turf of the Philadelphia Eagles end zone in mid-October 2014, New York Giants fans had a feeling Vic’s season was over. Then, the official diagnosis came out and Giants fans were in disbelief that Cruz’s career might be cut short. In most cases with most players, that torn patellar tendon means hanging up the cleats and pursuing other interests. While Cruz has plenty of other interests, mostly in fashion, he refused to accept an early retirement. Some said he would never be the same again. Following the 2014 season, we questioned if Cruz could return to greatness, indicating a return to the field was a bygone conclusion.
Betsided
Word from Giants camp and from Cruz about Vic’s return was very positive. Leading up to the start of the 2015 season, Cruz’s rehab was going better than expected. The lingering effects that usually come with such a devastating injury weren’t there. Giants fans were teeming with excitement over the possibilities of Cruz and Odell Beckham, Jr on the same field. Then, right before the preseason, Victor suffers a torn calf that sidelines him for all of 2015. Cruz defied the odds by returning from a career-threatening setback, could he come back from another?
As February rolled around and the Giants began releasing high-priced, injury-prone veterans, Victor Cruz’s name surfaced. The question of his return was no long a physical one, but a financial one. Will Cruz get cut, traded, or restructure? I’d like to think most Giants fans wanted Cruz back and believed he would restructure even despite the reported ultimatum the Giants gave. It would’ve been foolish to release Cruz before June 1st and absorb a significantly higher dead cap. We wondered how the Giants would restructure Vic’s agreement, proposing up to $10 million over 3 years, mostly incentive-based. Instead, the Giants opted to restructure only one year.
So, if Victor comes back and can’t keep up, gets injured again, or shows a marked decline in performance, the Giants could cut him before the 2017 regular season and only take a dead cap of $1.9 million. Victor hasn’t surpassed 1,000 receiving yards since 2012, though he was two yards short in 2013 before getting hurt. What do the Giants do if he snags 50 balls for 500 yards? Where’s the threshold for releasing Victor? Would he restructure again in 2017 if puts up league-average numbers? This is going to be one hell of an intriguing season.