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Victor Cruz

Victor Cruz Undergoing Season-Ending Surgery

November 16th, 2015 at 9:22am CST by Luke Adams

In a video for Bleacher Report’s Uninterrupted series, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz announced today that he’ll be sidelined for the rest of the 2015 season. According to Cruz, he’s undergoing a season-ending surgical procedure on his injured left calf.

Cruz, who turned 29 last Wednesday, had been working his way back from a torn patellar tendon that forced him to miss most of the 2014 season. However, during his recovery, he injured his calf, which has plagued him all season.

The Giants had hoped to see the veteran wideout back on the field earlier this year, and Cruz indicated in early October that he was “thoroughly convinced” he’d return and would be “playing at a high level” at some point in 2015. Repeated setbacks have made that impossible, however, and Cruz will undergo this procedure on his calf with the intention of getting back to 100% for the start of the 2016 campaign.

Whether Cruz’s return in 2016 happens in New York, with the Giants, remains to be seen. While the team would certainly like to hang onto him, the receiver’s cap number is set to jump to $9.9MM next year, including a $7.9MM base salary, and the Giants could create more than $6MM in cap savings by cutting him. I’d expect New York to explore the possibility of a pay cut and/or restructuring, since it’s unlikely the club would want to commit that sort of money to a player who has missed the last season and a half with major injuries.

The Giants haven’t made it official yet, but they’ll certainly place Cruz on the injured reserve list at some point this week, opening up a spot on the 53-man roster.

East Notes: Coples, Lewis, Cruz, Alonso

October 8th, 2015 at 9:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Jets outside linebacker Quinton Coples played only 15 of 64 defensive snaps in the Sunday win over the Dolphins and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com wonders if that could be a bad sign for his future in New York. The Jets have exercised the fifth-year option for 2016 at $7.8MM, but the salary is guaranteed for injury only. Through four games, Coples is at 53% of the snaps, down from his 2014 share, 68%.

Here’s more from the AFC and NFC East..

  • The Patriots signed Dion Lewis this offseason when few teams were even looking at him and that helps explain why he was willing to sign a contract extension this week, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. Lewis, who has stepped into Shane Vereen‘s former role as the team’s top “passing” back, opted for security over a potentially larger payday in free agency. Lewis’ deal features base salaries of $800K (2016) and $1.2MM (2017) along with a signing bonus of $600K and if he continues to produce at this pace, he’ll be one heck of a bargain for New England. Through three games, Lewis has tallied 146 yards on the ground and another 179 through the air, with a pair of touchdowns.
  • Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz told reporters (including Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger via Twitter) that he’s “thoroughly convinced” that he’ll be back on the field at some point “playing at a high level.” Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (via Twitter) says that the IR is not being discussed for Cruz, who has yet to see the field in 2015.
  • Eagles linebacker Kiko Alonso confirmed that his ACL was not injured in Week 3, as Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Alonso, who has thus far avoided the IR in 2015, doesn’t have a timetable for his return just yet.

Extra Points: Dez, Cruz, Jets, Browns

September 25th, 2015 at 9:22pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The NFC East-leading Cowboys are optimistic that injured receiver Dez Bryant will return after their Week 6 bye, chief operating officer Stephen Jones told 105.3 The Fan on Friday. Bryant had surgery Sept. 14 to repair a fractured bone in his right foot that he suffered in Dallas’ Week 1 win over the Giants. There’s been plenty of speculation since regarding the amount of time the two-time Pro Bowler could miss.

“We really feel like it’s a very fair goal to think that Dez will be back after the bye,” said Jones, per Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News.

If Jones is right, Bryant will only miss three more games – matchups against the Falcons, Saints and Patriots. His return, whenever it comes, will be a boon to a team that’s also without star quarterback Tony Romo for an extended period of time.

More on Dallas and the rest of the NFL:

  • In addition to Bryant, Jones also expect Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory to return after the bye week (link via Machota). The rookie second-round pick suffered a high ankle sprain in the opener.
  • Giants receiver Victor Cruz is expected to make his season debut Oct. 4 in Buffalo, head coach Tom Coughlin said Friday (link via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post). Cruz, who is currently working his way back from a strained calf, missed most of last season with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee.
  • With veteran receiver Eric Decker questionable for Sunday’s game against Philadelphia, the Jets could turn to rookie second-rounder Devin Smith. The ex-Ohio State standout missed nearly all of training camp and then the entire preseason and first two games of the regular season with broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Smith still isn’t 100 percent. Thus, whether he debuts Sunday depends on the status of Decker – who hasn’t practiced this week because of a sprained knee – according to head coach Todd Bowles (link via the New York Daily News’ Daniel Popper).
  • As was reported earlier Friday night, the Browns tried out free agent receiver Jerry Rice Jr. this week. The latest development is that they have no plans to sign him, reports Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer (via Twitter). Rice will instead join Montreal of the Canadian Football League.

NFC Notes: J. Jones, Long, Cruz, Workouts

September 19th, 2015 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

Week 1 couldn’t have gone much better for Packers wide receiver James Jones, who re-signed with Green Bay less than two weeks ago and caught a pair of touchdown balls from Aaron Rodgers during his first game back with the team.

In an interview with Jenny Vrentas of TheMMQB.com, Jones discussed the Raiders‘ and Giants‘ decisions to release him earlier this year, suggesting that Oakland simply wanted to “go younger,” while New York let him go out of respect, since he wouldn’t have been a big part of the Giants’ offense. Jones has no hard feelings toward either organization, but being cut twice in the span of a few months figures to motivate him this season.

“I’m extremely, extremely motivated, more than I have ever been, right now,” Jones said. “Not only to show the teams that released me that I have a lot of football left, but to show myself, that you still have a lot to give and you have a lot of football left. That’s my main motivation right now, to show people that I can still play this game at a very high level and still can help a ball club win.”

So far, so good for Jones and the Packers. Here’s more from around the NFC:

  • Field Yates of ESPN.com provides a few more details on Jake Long‘s one-year contract with the Falcons, tweeting that while there’s a base value of $1.17MM, the deal has a strong “play-and-pay structure.” Long can earn up to $400K in per-game roster bonuses and another $1MM in incentives.
  • Victor Cruz, who is continuing to deal with lingering calf problems, will miss the Giants‘ Week 2 game, but thinks he’ll be back on the field for the team within the next couple weeks, as Bart Hubbuch and Kyle Schnitzer of the New York Post write. The Giants, who have yet to use their IR-DTR slot, obviously felt confident heading into the season that Cruz wouldn’t be sidelined for a significant chunk of time, since it doesn’t seem as if the club ever seriously considered using that designation on the veteran wideout.
  • In addition to their workouts which we passed along yesterday, the Eagles also auditioned offensive lineman Austin Reiter and running back Dreamius Smith this week, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
  • According to Wilson (via Twitter), offensive lineman Pierce Burton had a workout for the Panthers this week. Burton was initially waived by the Falcons during their cutdown to 53 players, then was cut from Atlanta’s practice squad earlier this week.

NFC Notes: Giants, Cowboys, Lions, Saints

August 26th, 2015 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

The Giants were the NFL’s most-injured team in 2013 and 2014, and the club has already had 22 players sidelined by injury this summer, according to Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, who suggests Tom Coughlin‘s job could ultimately be in jeopardy if the team’s health issues lead to another underwhelming season.

One key Giants player who missed most of last season due to injury is currently on the shelf this year as well, and Coughlin acknowledges that he’s starting to worry about Victor Cruz‘s availability for Week 1. The receiver is battling a calf issue.

“I’m concerned, yeah, I am” Coughlin said, per Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News. “But I would like to see him get out there, and be able to stay out there. That’s what our real intent is. As soon as that can be done, that’s possible, then that’s what will happen.”

Here’s more from around the NFC:

  • Following Orlando Scandrick‘s season-ending ACL injury, the Cowboys are in the market for cornerbacks, says Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Per Cole, the team isn’t necessarily looking for a starter, but would like to add depth to an increasingly thin position.
  • Before trading him to the Patriots, the Lions actually heard from four teams that were interested in offensive tackle Michael Williams, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. As Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com observes, the Williams deal continues a trend for GM Martin Mayhew, who has acquired late-round draft compensation for a handful of players within the last few months.
  • The Saints will have some decisions to make when it comes to their defensive line, and Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune examines some of the players who are on the roster bubble and who could hit waivers next week.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Extra Points: Cruz, Dez, Mathis, Texans

June 18th, 2015 at 6:44pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest from around the NFL:

  • Texans cornerback Johnathan Joseph will see his base salary drop from $8.75MM to $7MM as a part of his new extension, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle tweets. He’ll then earn base salaries of $6.5MM in 2016 and 2017. Joseph will also receive $500K in 46-man roster bonuses each year (link).
  • Titans tight end Dorin Dickerson suffered a ruptured Achilles this week, and will have season-ending surgery to repair the damage sometime in the near future, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (Twitter link). Dickerson didn’t appear in a regular-season game in 2014, but has recently spent time with several teams, including the Texans, Patriots, Bills, and Lions.
  • Newcomer Vince Wilfork is excited to bring his leadership skills to the Texans, as John McClain of the Houston Chronicle writes. “I want to be a guy that’s played the game for a while that they can always turn to and ask questions about anything football-wise or off the field,” said the 33-year-old, who will be playing between J.J. Watt and Jared Crick. “I’ve played with a lot of guys. I’ve played with some Hall of Famers. I’ve been coached by some great guys.”
  • Lions wide receiver TJ Jones missed all of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery. Now, he’s not just trying to get back to what he did at Notre Dame – he’s looking to top it, as ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein writes. Detroit selected Jones in the sixth round of the 2014 draft.
  • David Ausberry‘s one-year deal with the Lions is worth $660K with no guaranteed cash, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Ausberry signed with Detroit earlier this month.
  • Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter) wouldn’t be surprised if the Bears add a veteran offensive lineman in advance of training camp.
  • Tarvaris Jackson‘s one-year deal with the Seahawks will pay him a fully guaranteed $1.5MM, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports (on Twitter). The 31-year-old Jackson earned $1.25MM in 2014, which was right around the middle of the pack in terms of backup quarterbacks. Jackson attempted just one pass in 2014 (a completion), but he’s started 34 games during his nine-year career, so he would offer valuable experience in the event of a Russell Wilson injury.
  • Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link) attributes the delay in Evan Mathis signing to the ongoing veteran minicamps rather than a weak market. Once minicamps are over and teams have fully assessed their offensive lines, Robinson expects the market for the guard to solidify.
  • Giants coach Tom Coughlin told reporters, including Paul Schwartz of the New York Post (on Twitter), that he expects that wide receiver Victor Cruz won’t have to start training camp on the PUP list. Cruz is signed through 2018 and carries an $8.2MM cap number — the second-highest figure on the team behind Eli Manning. Cruz’s season ended in October when he tore his patella tendon.
  • Dez Bryant showing up for Cowboys minicamp reinforces why his threat to hold out shouldn’t be taken seriously, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (on Twitter) opines.
  • G.J. Kinne‘s transition from quarterback to wide receiver is going quite well, Eagles coach Chip Kelly told reporters, including the staff from the team’s website (on Twitter). Kelly says that he didn’t know how well Kinne caught the ball until he tried him out at wide receiver. From this point forward, Kelly says gaining familiarity with the position will be his toughest task.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Free Agency Links: Giants, Poe, Clay

February 22nd, 2015 at 9:20am CST by Sam Robinson

Despite landing one of the marquee receivers with 2014 first-rounder Odell Beckham, Giants GM Jerry Reese intends to invest further in that spot this offseason.

“We’ll upgrade receiver,” Reese told Connor Orr of NFL.com on a decision that has more to do with slot bastion Victor Cruz, who suffered a ruptured patellar tendon midway through last season. Cruz is signed through 2018 and carries an $8.2MM cap number — the second-highest figure on the team behind Eli Manning, according to OverTheCap — as by far the Giants’ highest-paid receiver but regaining his top form after a gruesome ailment isn’t a lock. Beckham and Rueben Randle remain on their rookie deals.

Cruz hasn’t come close to replicating his 1,500-yard 2011 season, but the Giants have yet to see him team up much with Beckham, as the two played just one full game together last season. Although this is the team that took Jason Pierre-Paul in 2011 with Osi Umenyiora and Justin Tuck on their roster at the time, seeing the Giants go receiver at No. 8 overall or allocate significant funds to the spot via free agency would surprise, considering their other needs.

  • Occupying one of the tightest salary cap situations with less than $5MM of room (OverTheCap), the Chiefs have a slew of decisions to make to become active in this season’s free agent market. But one they must exercise by May 3 is whether to pick up their fifth-year option on nose tackle Dontari Poe, their Pro Bowl nose tackle, and GM John Dorsey is putting that decision on the back burner, writes the Kansas City Star’s Terez A. Paylor. If Kansas City picks up this option, Poe’s salary in 2016 will be an average of the league’s DTs paid between third- and 25th-most at the position. Poe’s been a regular who’s played high snap counts in the middle of the Chiefs’ defense since being selected in the first round of the 2012 draft, but their decision isn’t open and shut considering the statuses of high-priced players Tamba Hali, Dwayne Bowe and Eric Berry, who saw his fifth-year option picked up last spring. Poe graded out as the 11th-best defensive tackle in a breakout 2013 season, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), but didn’t crack the site’s top 40 in his other two seasons.
  • The Bills were probably going to take current Lions tight end Eric Ebron before trading up for Sammy Watkins last May and may not deviate from a tight end-based plan this time around, writes Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Carucci picks out Charles Clay, one of the top free agents at the position this offseason after being a steady performer with the Dolphins the past two years, as a possible upgrade on the Scott Chandler-led corps. Clay’s ability to work as a fullback in Rex Ryan‘s offense would be key here, Carucci said. The Bills haven’t had much of note, receiving-wise, at this spot in the modern era after deploying the likes of Chandler, Robert Royal and Jay Riemersma over the past 15 years.
  • Clay, who caught 58 and 69 passes the past two years, respectively, may not be a fit for the Super Bowl champion Patriots, tweets the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe, however. Clay’s price may be out of the range of a team that employs the second-highest-paid player, by seasonal value, in Rob Gronkowski.

NFC Notes: Packers, Bears, Cruz, Falcons

January 27th, 2015 at 12:57pm CST by Luke Adams

As 2015’s Super Bowl Media Day rolls on, let’s round up a few Tuesday notes from across the NFC….

  • Only four of 11 Packers players who had per-game roster bonuses in their contracts failed to collect all their money, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, breaking down the players who did and didn’t receive their bonuses.
  • The Bears announced today (via Twitter) that they’ve reached an agreement with Clint Hurtt to become their outside linebackers coach. The fact that the team is distinguishing between outside and inside linebackers coaches now suggests a transition to a 3-4 defense under new DC Vic Fangio.
  • Victor Cruz‘s $8.125MM cap number will be the second-highest on the Giants‘ books in 2015, prompting Dan Graziano of ESPN.com to explore whether the team will need to address Cruz’s contract this offseason.
  • A pair of Falcons assistant coaches recently interviewed for other jobs, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com, who tweets that Glenn Thomas talked to the Browns about their quarterbacks coach position, while Gerald Brown met with the Raiders about their running backs coach job.
  • In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Mike Sando takes a detailed look at how the Seahawks built the team that’s looking for its second consecutive Super Bowl win this Sunday.
  • Seahawks defensive tackle Kevin Williams is happy with the choice he made in free agency last offseason, but considering he narrowed his options down to Seattle and New England, he admitted this week that he “couldn’t have gone wrong,” writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
  • Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News expects the Cowboys to target a pass rusher with their first-round pick this April, or at least to nab a defender if there are no ideal pass-rushing fits at No. 27.

Victor Cruz Tears Patella Tendon

October 14th, 2014 at 4:37pm CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 4:37pm: The Giants have officially placed Cruz on injured reserve, tweets Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

MONDAY, 5:40pm: Cruz underwent patellar tendon repair surgery today, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).

SUNDAY, 9:45pm: Sunday night’s game against the Eagles went from bad to worse for the Giants, who are currently being shut out by their division rivals, and have now learned that wide receiver Victor Cruz suffered a torn patella tendon while running a route in the third quarter. The injury, which was first reported by Michele Tafoya on NBC, has now been confirmed by the team (Twitter link).

Although the Giants have yet to announce a timetable for Cruz, it’s extremely likely that the injury will end his season. That’s very bad news for a Giants offense that has been up and down even with Cruz in the lineup, and was already missing another injured wide receiver, Jerrel Jernigan.

Among Giants wideouts, Cruz came into the evening trailing Rueben Randle in total receptions, with 21 to Randle’s 23, but Randle had averaged just 8.2 yards per reception compared to Cruz’s team-best 15.3 ypc and 321 total receiving yards. In Cruz’s absence, Randle, Preston Parker and rookie Odell Beckham Jr. will assume larger roles. Eli Manning has also developed a rapport with tight end Larry Donnell, who leads the team in catches.

Assuming Cruz’s injury is determined to be season-ending, as expected, the Giants figure to place him on injured reserve this week, and will likely add another wideout to the 53-man roster. While an outside free agent is a possibility, the Giants could also elect to promote a player from their practice squad, which currently features three receivers — Juron Criner, Travis Harvey, and Julian Talley.

NFC East Notes: Thurmond, Eagles, Cowboys

August 9th, 2014 at 10:19am CST by Matt Feminis

When asked about the most impressive player he’s seen in Giants camp, ESPN’s Dan Graziano identified cornerback Walter Thurmond, saying the free-agent acquisition has been “making life miserable for slot receiver Victor Cruz in practice. Thurmond could be a difference-maker at that nickel corner position for the Giants this year.” Thurmond, 26, signed a one-year, $3MM deal in March, at which time ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former director of pro personnel for the Eagles, lauded the signing as a potential steal: “If he can stay healthy and out of trouble, it’s a tremendous value signing. . .He’s a dynamite press corner, who is as good with his technique as [Seattle’s] Byron Maxwell, as [Seattle’s] Richard Sherman. Walter is very good. He can play in the nickel because he’s big enough, because he can tackle, because he’s a good blitzer. And he can play on the outside. Not only can he press, he can play them all.”

The numbers back up Riddick’s assessment. Despite starting just three of 12 games played last season for the Super Bowl champion Seahawks, Thurmond tallied 24 tackles, six pass breakups, an interception (29-yard TD) and a forced fumble. Additionally, his 5.7 coverage rating was higher than teammate Brandon Browner, who signed for three years and $16.8MM in New England.

So why did the Giants land such a good player at such an affordable deal? He’s been plagued by injuries since entering the league, and was popped for a four-game suspension last season for violating the substance-abuse policy. Nevertheless, he brings supreme confidence to the Giants secondary. In April Thurmond proclaimed himself the best slot corner in the league. By July, he was drawing praise from teammates and coaches, including head man Tom Coughlin, who likes Thurmond’s attitude. Now, a week into August, he’s established himself as the ‘Quiet Assassin.”

Here’s a few more NFC East links: