Why do people think Cruz is easily replaceable?

[Roosevelt]

I hope this doesn't happen because he is an important part of the future but stranger things have happened and what will your feelings be if Reese is forced to lose him...

I would be ecstatic, wouldn't you?

[Flip Empty]

we were actually interested in him after his stint with buffalo. i cant recall if he was a FA or if Seattle traded for him

They traded a bucket of chicken for him. Seriously. It was a fourth + a conditional, I think. Bargain.

Buffalo, for their failings, have been so good at selecting backs.

[ShakeandBake]

They traded a bucket of chicken for him. Seriously. It was a fourth + a conditional, I think. Bargain.

Buffalo, for their failings, have been so good at selecting backs.

Believe it or not, Buffalo does a pretty good job when it comes to the draft overall. When it comes to retaining their picks, not so much.

[nhpgiantsfan]

Don't by any of these guys giving a "home town discount". They are all very young and don't blame them for a minute for wanting to get paid. If they signed Cruz today and Nicks has a good season this next year he is gone.

This! Nobody gives home town discounts. If they do it is so minuscule it doesn't even matter. Jacobs left his beloved team for $500k. These guys want to get paid and I don't blame them. They aren't going to leave a lot of money on the table just to stay with the Giants.

[gmen46]

Cruz tears his acl next year and boom your stuck with a guy that has probably 20million guaranteed, atleast. A lot can happen in a year, nicks' can most likely be extended cheaper this offseason than next so why not do that? Its not as cut and dry as you're making it out to be

Any player could tear his ACL in any given season. If you went by that, and if teams didn't have a CBA to contend with, all player contracts would be 1 year- with- option- to- extend contracts.

And on what basis do you claim Nicks could be extended cheaper this off season than a new Cruz contract?

If Giants opted to go with a 1 year tender to Cruz instead of a fairly long term (4-6 year range) contract, it would be a cheap and offensive offer to Cruz, and would be uncharacteristic move on the part of the Giants. Short-sighted, as well.

In that regard, it is as cut and dried as I'm making it out to be. I've seen nothing from Reese and Mara the past 6 years to lead me to believe they would be that cheap and short-sighted. Now, if they let this go until FA and allow Cruz into the market, then anything is possible, and much of it is bad for the Giants.

[TomCat_FIN]

People who produce, will get paid. It's that simple. Cruz doesn't own the Giants anything. He played for peanuts this season after a 1000+ yard season and proved the first one wasn't a fluke. Now he's gonna get paid. I don't worry about his cap hit implications or whatever, the organization has specialists for that. I only worry about player performances and how they fit into the team. Cruz is an integral part of the Giants offense and his payday has come. So either the Giants pay him or risk to lose him. I'd rather not lose him.

[gumby74]

I don't think Cruz is easily replacable. He just might not be worth an enormous cap hit, if he should ask for top dollar.

[Morehead State]

I'm not going to pull up his stats because I'm sure most of you know how elite his numbers are.
I've seen many people say that Jernigan or Barden will step up in his place..what? In what way? I barely see Jernigan play and Barden played one good game out of the four years he's been here.

I understand giving guys a chance to play and step up, but to just assume that they can perform at the same level Cruz has performed is absurd.

Well since, in the 80 plus year history of our team, we haven't had a player quite like him, I would tend to agree.

[gumby74]

We should try to trade a 1st to seattle for Lynch lol...

With our crap offense line? Lynch would average 1 yard a carry. The whole notion of it's the RB that makes the oline not the other way around is a load of crap.

[bigblue58]

I'm not going to pull up his stats because I'm sure most of you know how elite his numbers are.
I've seen many people say that Jernigan or Barden will step up in his place..what? In what way? I barely see Jernigan play and Barden played one good game out of the four years he's been here.

I understand giving guys a chance to play and step up, but to just assume that they can perform at the same level Cruz has performed is absurd.

He's not replaceable at all, but if he's asking for money that the Giants can't afford to pay him, he's going to leave and the decision to leave will be all his!
Cruz pisses me off, because the Giants gave him a shot, stuck with him even though he was running wrong routes, missing blitz pick ups and dropping balls when he first started, and he's allowed his success to totally go to his head!
He's a good player, asking for "great player" money. He had 2 solid seasons but he's not a top flight receiver in the Mega Tron class. He's not even as good as a healthy Nicks!
I want him to stay, but not at any price because he still had too many big time drops in big games to be asking for the Giants to empty the bank for him.