Victor Cruz: Giants Must Reward Star WR with Big Contract

It is possible that no player in the history of the game has ever overdone his contract more than Victor Cruz did in 2011. The New York Giants have no choice but to reward Cruz for his stellar season with a contract. 

Mike Florio of NBC Sports quoted Cruz telling PFT Live that he feels a new contract would be fair after the season he had. 

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"I think I was paid, you know, relative to where I came in this year and, you know, I came in as a free agent so that’s the salary I was on, so I don’t feel like I was underpaid...I mean, I feel like after my performance this year, you know, I feel like I deserve to be paid more money at this point. But that’s something I’ll let my agents and those people take care of and I’ll just go out there and play the game."

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A simple look at the numbers will tell you that Cruz is right. He caught 82 passes for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns. But even those numbers don't tell the full story about his value to the Giants. Not only would they have not won the Super Bowl without Cruz, they wouldn't have made the playoffs. 

Don't forget that this was a 9-7 football team that didn't clinch a playoff spot until the last game of the regular season. In the team's wins Cruz caught 41 passes for 843 yards and five touchdowns. 

With the pending free agency of Mario Manningham, Cruz is far from expendable and the Giants need to reward him for having such a stellar season. 

Cruz was a model of consistency in 2011, and he was integral in bringing the Giants a championship. With the exception of Eli Manning, no one player was as vital to the Giants' success as Cruz, and you could even make a case that without Cruz, Manning wouldn't have been anywhere near as good.

Manning's first year as the starting quarterback for the Giants was 2005. Look at his average season from 2005-2010:

Completions/Attempts	Percentage	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions
306/523	58.5%	3,601	25	17

Now, look at how those numbers compare to 2011, which was Cruz's first season logging significant playing time:

Completions/Attempts	Percentage	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions
359/589	61%	4,933	29	16

So, not only were the numbers and results there for Cruz and the Giants, but he clearly made the franchise quarterback significantly better. 

As of right now, Cruz is slated to make just under $500,000 next year, which is far too low for such an important player. 

He didn't put up the numbers in a losing effort, nor did Cruz produce in mop-up time. Every pass he caught was integral in the Giants' success in 2011. Without Cruz, they are a team that would have been below .500. With him, all you need to do is see the Vince Lombardi Trophy to know how they did. 

When a player is so crucial to his team's success, he deserves to be rewarded. Clearly, nobody expected Cruz to have the kind of year that he had, which explains the small contract. 

But now that he's had the great season and helped win the Giants a Super Bowl, they know that he'll be a big part of the offense in 2012 and beyond. Because of that, he needs to be paid like a vital part of the team. 

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