Andrew Mills — US Presswire
According to the New Jersey Post (Not really I know), the San Francisco 49ers are preparing to make an offer for New York Giants’ WR Victor Cruz. It is unclear what the terms of the deal would be if they were to make an offer. However, it’ll have to be well over the $7 million a year range which the Giants offered Cruz in their first offer this offseason.
The 49ers would need to ask players to take a slight pay-cut if they are to pursue Cruz. The 49ers are only $4.5 million under the cap for the 2013 season, so that won’t be enough to lure Cruz over from New York City. The 49ers also just signed CB Nnamdi Asomugha, so that taps into their salary cap space as well.
If the 49ers were to offer Cruz a deal better than the one the Giants offered, Cruz would have to think about a number of scenarios. The 49ers already have WR Michael Crabtree and newly acquired WR Anquan Boldin. Former Giants’ WR Mario Manningham was expected to be that last year. However, he suffered a torn ACL late last season, which might keep him out in the early stages of the 2013 season.
49ers’ QB Colin Kaepernick has started to rely on TE Vernon Davis as well. WR Randy Moss will not return, but the 49ers used their first-round pick last year on WR A.J. Jenkins of University of Illinois. it’s unclear whether his role in the offense will increase next year. If Cruz were to sign, it probably wouldn’t be a good fit considering all of the options they already have. If the Giants don’t match San Francisco’s offer, then the 49ers would also have to send New York their 31st overall pick for the restricted free agent.
Overall, Cruz most likely has people in his ear telling him to stay in New York. Cruz stands to make good endorsement money with his popularity in this region, especially among the Latino community. Cruz also knows what his role will be in the Giants’ offense. He’s been used heavily in the past two seasons, and it doesn’t appear that it will change.
The 49ers are probably trying to stick it to the Giants by making an offer. They do have a great number of draft options so they could risk giving up their first-round pick to acquire Cruz. However, paying him a big contract when you already possess a plethora of receiving options isn’t a good idea for management.
It’s too bad this was an April Fools joke as I could actually picture Cruz in the red and gold. Sigh. Maybe next April Fools the Niners could get Adrian Peterson. One can only hope…
