Since being released by the New York Giants, we haven’t heard a lot regarding Victor Cruz. But it seems things are picking up for the wide receiver, getting interest from both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens.
Cruz is visiting with the Jaguars, and there’s an obvious connection there with Tom Coughlin being part of the front office these days, returning to the team he coached when the franchise entered the league. The Ravens have a bigger need for Cruz, and the 30-year old seems to be interesting in playing for them too.
Cruz, who missed the entire 2015 season, didn’t leave a lasting impression, or at least a positive one, in his comeback year. The days of showing a speed and guile with numbers attached were gone, and he finished with 39 receptions for 586 yards last season. Not bad in terms of averages, but far from his dominant days in 2011 and 2012, when he caught 19 touchdown passes while posting 2628 in both seasons, helping the Giants to win a Super Bowl. The Giants did choose Cruz over Hakeem Nicks at the time when there was a choice to be made, but his career deteriorated. So did Nicks. It’s worth mentioning that Eli Manning had a lot of targets to disperse the ball to, which left Cruz a bit forgotten at times.
The Jags have a good receiving crew, but Allen Robinson, Marqise Lee and Allen Hurns struggled while Blake Bortles had trouble living up to the expectations, with the Jags falling back to 3-13. Adding Cruz could help, but it seems the Jaguars problems are quite different than what Cruz himself brings to the field.
The Ravens do make more sense, as they have very little at wide receiver behind Mike Wallace and Breshad Perriman, who himself was something of a disappointment last season. Despite their need to add targets for Joe Flacco, the Ravens didn’t sign a WR in free agency, nor did they draft one. Cruz could find himself in a much bigger role than he had with the Giants last season, and while he isn’t one of the best slot receivers around anymore, there certainly seems to be a lot both sides have to offer each other.