Why do people think Cruz is easily replaceable?

[TheEnigma]

My issue is the undermining of Cruz's skills, and automatically thinking that whoever is on the bench can do the exact same thing. Maybe not post 1,000 yards because that's a stretch, but really take over and make the plays and contribute the way Cruz has.

No I agree with you that no one on the roster really offers what Cruz does at the moment. Jernigan is probably the closest thing but he's more of a Randall Cobb type than a slot receiver in the mold of Cruz. I just think the offense could work as a collective unit to pick up the majority of the slack and it happens all the time in football when a player goes down or a superstar moves on.

[jomo]

They don't.

[GTGiantsFan]

97/1350/11 is better than Cruz, and he's the only option on the Bengals.
(AJ Green's stats last year)

[jomo]

He won't.

[DownWitJPP]

Exactly the same thing that people uses to say about Sinorice Moss . . . .exactly

was waiting for that...seems like the cool thing to do to compare every Giants receiver to Sinorice Moss. Sinorice was here for what 5 or 6 years? This kid has been here for 2 and has Victor Cruz of all people playing in front of him. You guys don't realize all Wr's are not interchangeable...your not gonna play Hakeem or Barden or Randle in the slot...just as ur not gonna play Jernigan out wide. Only time will tell...

[Rudyy]

They don't.

You'd be surprised.

[RoanokeFan]

If the deal he was seeking was reasonable, it probably would've been signed by now. Remember the two sides were talking during the season and couldn't work out a deal. I'm sure they will work it out, but obviously something was holding it up.

All they did during the season was set up the structure for the deal. Part of the season end evaluation is determining what the going rate is for every position and talent level. Once they have that, they will start negotiating dollars. Neither side will get everything it wants, but the team believes it can get back into the playoff hunt in 2013 and in order to do that, they need to keep the play makers they have.

They can do that by tagging Cruz (maybe) but then you aren't going to have Nicks and Cruz in 2014 unless the CAP increases significantly.

[DownWitJPP]

I haven't seen anyone say that they think Cruz is easily replaceable. He is a heck of a talent and would be greatly missed if he went elsewhere...with that being said if he does go to another team we will find another option just like this team always does. People thought it was the end of the world when Steve Smith went to the Eagles and look what happened...we replaced him with an up and coming slot receiver who turned out to be better than he ever was. One player does not make or break a team inless you are talking about a franchise QB.

[jomo]

You'd be surprised.

It depends on who "they" are. For me "they" are the people who really understand the game. I should have specified but I was trying to reply to 10 threads in a row with 3 or fewer words. lol sometimes I need to break the monotony with something silly like that.

[Toadofsteel]

If we have to give up Cruz to ensure Beatty stays and we get a competent O-line, then yes, I do believe that the 1000 yard dropoff in production could be made up spread across receivers. Remember that Cruz has gotten the production he has with the absolute crappiest O-line the Giants have ever had these past 2 years. With an O-line worth a damn and Eli being able to focus more on finding the open receiver than worrying about the pass rush all the time, he'd be able to be a lot more lethal with a lot less in the way of weaponry...

That said, I hope Cruz stays.