Victor Cruz - 5-yr extension for $43 million

Any predictions about what Nicks will command next year is premature without knowing if he can stay healthy.

against the 2014 cap. They could easily assign the franchise tag to Nicks after this season (even assuming a flat cap). And that $104M cap figure includes the huge cap hits of Rolle/Snee that are likely to be slashed (via cut or restructure)

.

Nice write-up.

6 year 7.65 mil per is a great deal for the Giants. That sounds much better than the 8.6 mil per I initially thought was signed. Glad to see that the Giants stuck to their guns.

Reese deserves a lot of credit here. Most GMs would have thrown in extra $$.
Cruz signs 6 year extension - ( New Window )

I'm fine with having Nicks for two more years(This year and possible tag next year)...Unless it's for reasonable money(8-9 per), I'm totally fine letting him prove he can stay healthy and viable..In the meantime, Randle could take a leap for us during this time

more like 110 mill after cruz signing. I would not use a wr franchise tag on Nicks (close to 11 mill). I do agree there will be savings with rolle and snee

but even the $110-112M number would account for 50 players under contract, so it's not like they need to go out and make 10+ major moves.

And I believe they could save $7M+ on Snee and Rolle EACH. Plus Eli can always be restructured (he has a $20M cap hit in 2014). Pending extensions for Nicks and Joseph, they are in very good cap shape going forward.

He should have done better for Cruz.

JR has done it again. Now lets see if he can pull off a similar cap friendly signing with Nicks prior to 2014...
Hallelujah! - ( New Window )

.

He has history here with this team. He is a local guy. He is loved by the fans. It is smart for him to stay here where he can potentially have a great career, get paid at a reasonable rate, with the potential to make a lot of endorsement money, and with the long term prospect of being a fixture in NY/NJ for the rest of his life. He will have chances to make money here long after his playing years are over. Smart kid. Good deal.

Now lets get ready for some football.

needs to extend his contract. extend Rolle , retire Snee or salary cut. sign Nicks and JPP and a long term solution at TE. Good luck Jerry

the Gmen. From the sounds of it, they stuck to their guns the whole time and waited for VC and Condone to come to them. Perfectly played as usually by JR. Now comes the tricky part with Nicks. If JR can pull off signing Hakeem without hampering the team too much (which I dont think JR would do), then you give that man a raise ASAP.

condon*

.

reporting signing bonus just under 10m

I thought Nicks was a higher priority but the Giants must have decided that his health was too risky.

.

we will have a lot of money coming off the books next offseason and a few players (Rolle and Snee) who could be let go for big savings if need be


I'm pumped about this deal...Jerry and friends did a hell of a job

his only remaining options were to play for the $2 million and change tender this year, or hold out into the season, a la Logan Mankins and Vincent Jackson - neither of which were very good options, compared to the deal he just agreed to

Reese did a fine job of sticking to his guns here, and Cruz gets $15 million guaranteed, which isn't too shabby

Agree with all the assessments about what a great deal this is for all sides. Also thinking about the implications for Nicks, but mostly just enjoying the prospect of having Cruz in the fold for a long time.

when he didn't get any outside offers to use to drive up the price on the Giants...probably in no small way b/c he made it clear he wanted to be a Giant

So in other words, his loyalty probably cost him some money. But he should still be pretty pumped about this payday, as an undrafted free agent

No reason JR can't sign Nicks next year, the money will be there. Eli can restructure, Rolle and Snee could be cap casualties (Snee could retire). Tuck may be gone. Nothing about the Cruz signing means Nicks won't be here next year. The only way Nicks is absolutely gone is if he puts up Megatron numbers and gets a mammoth contract offer. (If that happens, I hope JR franchises him)

cost Cruz some money, but if he and Eli win another championship and he continue to put up similar numbers for the next 5 years not only will he be a permanent NY sports icon, but he could receive HoF consideration. I think Cruz wants legacy and he wants it in his backyard.

Cruz no doubt heeded some good advice that staying in NY and continuing to be a star with the Giants will pay off in the long run a lot more than squeezing out more money in this deal to go play in Carolina or wherever

was - all the money you'll need for the rest of your life or all the money you'll need for the rest of your life + 10 % ...

Cruz stays home and gets security. The Giants get to keep a great player without breaking the bank. Well done, Jerry!

apparently.

honestly didn't think it was more than 50/50 at this point. We'd heard so much about it being so close with nothing to follow. This is a great deal for the Giants and Victor as others have noted. And it's so nice to have Victor on the Giants for years to come. Well done to everyone.

I wonder if or how that will have any bearing on Nicks and JPP.

Awesome. Gotta keep Nicks too!

IMO, Nicks is going to be their next priority. I don't think they went into this thing saying "well, it's one or the other.." .. I think the goal was to lock up both together.

how they will prioritize a potential Nicks extension. They offered him a (certainly quite low) extension earlier this offseason, and Nicks rebuffed them. (Which is what they had to expect-- Nicks would've had to have been stupid to start negotiating now, coming off the season he just had.)

Now, they get to see how he does in camp and over the course of the season, as well as how the other WRs on the roster do. They'll make a decision on what kind of offer to make Nicks (including whether to Franchise him) after they complete all those assessments.

Unfortunately we will now see a gazillion "Can the Giants sign Nicks threads". Happy for Victor Cruz and happy for Giants fans that Cruz is finally signed.

This year, the cap hit will be less than it would have been with the RFA contract. About $2.2 million.
Contract details - ( New Window )

Took alittle longer than I thought, but happy it's done. Nicks is next.

I agree 100% that this doesn't preclude them from signing Nicks, but before he can become the next priority--as you call him--he needs to prove he can stay healthy. This is not something any of us can have an informed opinion about. All we can do is wait and see.

The most prudent strategy might be to take it one year at a time and take advantage of the franchise tag in 2014. Otherwise the Giants could end up on the wrong end of the Steve Smith scenario.

One thing that impressed the hell out of me about Cruz was his ability last year to take a licking and keep on ticking. Mentally he may have shown his share of alligator arms, but physically he was as tough as could be.

job well done, Giants. Hope Pat Hanlon and Co. See this.

By the sounds of deal, good for both parties

...

I agree Nicks' health will play into their decision somewhat.. but they also may want to try and lock him up sooner while his value may be a bit lower since he's seen as an injury prone player.

If Nicks gets through the 2013 season relatively healthy and puts up monster numbers, he may play himself out of our price range in terms of a LT deal in which case we may have to just tag him and go from there.

Thank god that's over with.

I don't think there's a number right now that is high enough for Nicks to be happy and low enough that the Giants feel it's worth taking on the injury risk. I think we get into that scenario in 2014 with the Giants utilizing the franchise tag as the tool to keep Nicks reasonable (and outside the reach of free-spending owners).

namely JPP and Randle will also play a role in how the Giants approach re-signing Nicks. If Randle has a big year, the Giants could use the franchise tag on Nicks and take trade offers.

at 4:15

based on what I was told. Nicks' camp is aiming for $11-12M per, and he knows he needs to post a big (and healthy) season to pull it off. He also seems ok with the potential idea of jumping to another team for the money, if need be.

In the end, he'll probably have to compromise to an extent just as Cruz did, so they can crunch more space for JPP's monster deal the following offseason.

And guys like jlukes and gersh were right. I really didn't want him to walk.