WRs Giants can sign to replace everything Victor Cruz brought
It is certainly not inconceivable that, given the opportunity, Roger Lewis could duplicate the pedestrian production Victor Cruz gave the Giants in 2016. It is not a great leap of faith to suggest Lewis, in his second NFL season, could find his way to 39 receptions for 586 yards and one touchdown, the numbers Cruz put together in his final year with the Giants.
If not Lewis, perhaps Tavarres King could match that output if thrust into the No. 3 receiver role.
Replacing the 2016 version of Victor Cruz on the field will not be the greatest challenge facing the Giants as they attempt to jump-start an offense that disappointed them greatly. Finding someone to emerge as a veteran presence, a sounding board for combustible Odell Beckham Jr. and a role model for Beckham and young Sterling Shepard, is a far more onerous task.
Beckham is 24 years old. Shepard is also 24. Lewis, undrafted out of Bowling Green, is 23. King is 26. Dwayne Harris is 29, but he is a special-teams player and a receiver only in an emergency. Without Cruz, there is no one to command the room. Do not think for a minute the receivers’ jaunt to Miami six days before the playoff loss in Green Bay had anything to do with Cruz’s release on Monday. It was no factor in the decision to part ways with Cruz.
Expecting Beckham to make that leap into a bona fide leadership role in his fourth NFL season is risky business and probably not wise. Adding another young receiver is fine for the field but not so fine for team chemistry. Somewhere, somehow, a veteran with some gravitas must be found and signed. He does not have to be a great player, but he must be a winner in the locker room.
Sorting through the free-agent class, Alshon Jeffery, 27, is by far the best player, but he is going to command big bucks and might be hit with the franchise tag by the Bears, so he is not a factor here. Pierre Garcon (30), Anquan Boldin (36), Brandon LaFell (30), Ted Ginn Jr. (31) and Jeremy Kerley (28) could all be on the market and have been around. Others include Kenny Britt (28), converted quarterback Terrelle Pryor (27) and Kamar Aiken (27).
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As for Cruz, he will find a new team, but he is not going to see a windfall and likely will have to settle for a one-year deal and then win his way onto the final roster over the summer. There are conflicting reports about the Broncos trying to set up a meeting with Cruz. There are no conflicting reports about the mega-money the Broncos have to spend (more than $40 million under the salary cap) and that they need a third receiver after Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.
The Eagles need upgrades at receiver and know Cruz well, but Cruz is best-suited to play in the slot and that is where Jordan Matthews usually operates. Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman was with the Giants in 2010 when Cruz arrived and Carolina could be a fit. Tom Coughlin is now running the show in Jacksonville and is a big fan of Cruz. The Bills might lose Robert Woods in free agency, which would open up the slot. The Redskins and Cowboys do not really have a spot for Cruz but adding him would be so NFC East-like.
TE Matt LaCosse might have been a factor in 2016 if not for a knee injury that landed him on injured reserve. LaCosse, 24, as an exclusive rights free agent re-signed with the Giants, a one-year deal worth $465,000. TE Larry Donnell, an unrestricted free agent, will not return after spending the past five seasons with the Giants. Donnell, a starter in 2014 and 2015, was benched early last season and never reclaimed his playing time.