GIANTS' VICTOR CRUZ HIRES A NEW CONTRACT AGENT

[RoanokeFan]

GIANTS' VICTOR CRUZ HIRES A NEW CONTRACT AGENT

"A word of caution before we get into this: none of what you're about to read
means Victor Cruz is about to make a strong push for a new contract or take a
hard stance in negotiations.


That being settled, the NFL Players Association's website shows a new agent
for the Giants' wide receiver this
afternoon: Malik Shareef.</p>


If the name doesn't ring a bell for the average fan, it's because Shareef is
a relative newcomer to the agent biz. According to <a href="http://wlunews.wordpress.com/2011/05/02/another-good-draft-for-law-alumnus/">this
blog entry</a>, he graduated from law school in 2006.</p>

But Shareef has landed some high-profile clients in the past few years. He
was Joe Haden's agent when the Cleveland Browns' cornerback negotiated his
$50-million rookie deal. Shareef currently has five active clients: Arizona
Cardinals running back Ryan Williams (a second-round pick last year), Browns
safety David Sims (an undrafted free agent for the Giants last year), Houston
Texans cornerback Rashad Carmichael, New Orleans Saints linebacker Nate Bussey
and now Cruz.</p>


Cruz, who signed a marketing contract with IMG after the Super Bowl, recently
parted with the agent who signed him out of UMass. His girlfriend Elaina Watley
told the Wall Street Journal last month the lack of urgency in hiring a new
representative showed <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203986604577253801783696794.html"> "he's
not looking to re-do his contract."</a> (Watley also told the Journal's Aditi
Kinkhabwala Cruz's first agent, Jack Huntington, "was awesome. <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/AKinkhabwala/status/175227244900384768">We just
wanted to go in a different direction</a>.")</p>


Cruz is scheduled to earn $540,000 in base salary this upcoming season, so
eventually he will be looking to cash in on his newfound stardom. Despite the
change in agents, there are no indications he's going to make this an ugly
battle anytime soon."</p>

[BlueReign]

I don't like this. I just get the gist that this agent is going to make him greedy.

[RoanokeFan]

[quote user="BlueReign"]I don't like this. I just get the gist that this agent is going to make him greedy.
[/quote]

Did you read the article?

[BlueReign]

[quote user="RoanokeFan"][quote user="BlueReign"]I don't like this. I just get the gist that this agent is going to make him greedy.
[/quote]

Did you read the article?
[/quote]
Yes, I just don't believe it. I hope I'm wrong though.

[GameTime]

[quote user="BlueReign"]I don't like this. I just get the gist that this agent is going to make him greedy.
[/quote]</P>


greedy is the wrong word. More like these players are oportunistic for the big payday. </P>


name me one player who is successful that is not</P>


really.....they all are to a degree....</P>


especially the upper tier players...</P>


Eli got a 100 million....how do you lable that????</P>

[logan9839]

You can't blame him. He is one hit from having his career end and making nothing. If I was him it would be very hard not to try for the money right now.

[RoanokeFan]

[quote user="BlueReign"][quote user="RoanokeFan"][quote user="BlueReign"]I don't like this. I just get the gist that this agent is going to make him greedy.
[/quote]

Did you read the article?
[/quote]
Yes, I just don't believe it. I hope I'm wrong though.
[/quote]

Cruz has NO, NONE, NADA, ZILCH leverage. He has previously said he's going to play football and let his agent handle his contract. After the Osi debacle of last season, I'd like to think players on this team are more circumspect about airing dirty laundry in public.

As GameTime pointed out, players want to make as much money as they can within the relatively short window of opportunity that they have.

The article started out with a caveat about making assumptions and Cruz's girlfriend (also one of his advisors) said flat out he not trying to re-negotiate his contract.

Until something happens to indicate otherwise, how about we just take them at their word?

[logan9839]

To be clear though, much respect for Cruz, you have not heard a word out of him. Just a great guy!

[myles2424]

Is there of us that don't think we deserve more $$$ for the job we do?
So don't get sensitive when a player thinks he deserves more $$$, or when he hires a new agent.....Cruz is a great guy, but he has a family & football is his job at the end of the day.....

[BlueReign]

Just to get it straight I'm not saying he's doing anything wrong. I fully understand the business aspect of football and I just don't want to see a good guy become a diva.