Victor Cruz Contract Primer: Joel Corry breaks it down

Joel Corry's recent breakdown of the contract negotiations between Victor Cruz and the New York Giants is the best, most complete, most informative work you will find on the topic anywhere. 'Kudos' to Corry, a knowledgeable former agent, and to BBV community member 'The Curse' for finding the story and linking to it in one of his comments.

I am not going to rehash Corry's entire post and thus steal his thunder. If you're a Giants fan -- and why else would you be here? -- and you want to know what is going on with Cruz and what could happen, you have to read it. Here, however, are a few key takeaways.

• Based on productivity, Cruz is justified in wanting to be paid as 'more than just a slot receiver.' Corry pointed out that only Cruz and Calvin Johnson have been in the top 10 in receptions, yards and touchdowns in each of the past two seasons.
• Watch June 17. The Giants could reduced the tender offer to Cruz from $2.879 million to $630,000 on that day. Corry doesn't seem to think the Giants will do that, and I agree.
• Corry believes Cruz messed up during the RFA window by not allowing agent Tom Condon to seek offers from other teams.
• Corry points out that whatever the Giants pay Cruz that will only be the starting point for negotiations with Hakeem Nicks. And yes, that complicates matters a great deal.
• Corry seems to believe that holding out would be a mistake for Cruz -- for many reasons, including the idea that the Giants might simply choose to focus on Nicks.

Corry, who has negotiated these types of contracts before, also offers a solution that might work for both sides For that, though, you need to go read his post.