The New York Giants are quite busy trying to finally end their contract negotiations with Victor Cruz so they can move on to the next wide receiver, Hakeen Nicks, whose contract runs out at the end of the season. Problem is, Nicks probably doesn’t want to sign an extension now, thinking he can cash in on more money after a good and fully healthy season.

Nicks has never played a full 16-game schedule before, always getting injured, usually in a minor way. The Giants see him as their number one wide receiver, not Cruz, but would love a situation in which they could bring both of them on board without paying too much money. Re-signing Nicks now, before the season begins, seems like the logical idea.

But Nicks, who caught 155 passes for 2248 yards during his two most productive seasons for the Giants (2010 and 2011), is thinking that the same kind of season this year, without any injury to hold him back, should put him in a league with some of the best wide receivers in the NFL, and also getting paid like one.

For now, Nicks is waiting for the Giants to make their first offer, but also see how the Cruz situation pans out and for how much money per season he signs eventually. Nicks is looking to get the kind of money the franchise tag brings, which is $10.5 million for wide receivers this season. However, the Giants, who usually don’t have too much room to maneuver below the cap, will have a lot of money invested in both Cruz and Eli Manning, probably making it quite hard to make Nicks as highly paid as he would like to be.

In the meantime, both sides don’t seem to be in any kind of rush, but that’s only below the surface. The longer the situation draws out, the Giants will probably get a little more anxious and try to put Nicks and his agent in the negotiations room. The only thing that will prevent him from getting the kind of money Vincent Jackson and Mike Wallace have gotten over the last couple of season will be an injury.

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