Over the next few years, the New York Giants will face contract decisions about wide receivers Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, the team's leading pass-catchers in 2012, and co-owner John Mara isn't ruling out the option of keeping them both.
Giants want to sign Victor Cruz, Hakeem Nicks long-term
Giants co-owner John Mara is going to try to keep both Nicks and Cruz in New York for a “long time.”
Nick Laham
In a report from Jenny Vrentas of The Star Ledger, Mara spoke about New York’s top receiving threats at the NFL Combine on Thursday, indicating that both Cruz and Nicks remain equally high on the team’s upcoming to-do list.
Cruz, who caught 86 passes for 1,092 yards and 10 touchdowns last season, may have to be addressed first, as he is a restricted free agent this offseason. While the Giants could, as Vrentas writes, offer Cruz a one-year tender in the short-term, Mara appeared hopeful that the two sides could come together this offseason and agree on a contract that will keep the explosive slot-man in New York for much longer.
Nicks, on the other hand, becomes an unrestricted free agent following the 2013-14 season. Despite fighting multiple injuries that wouldn’t go away a season ago -- he also hasn’t played a full 16-game regular season since entering the league in 2009 -- Nicks remains a No. 1 receiving talent. He caught 53 passes for 692 yards and three touchdowns in 13 games in 2012.
Mara wants to see both of them lining up outside of quarterback Eli Manning for the foreseeable future. The question of whether that's financially possible begins to get answered this offseason with Cruz's situation.
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