New York Giants' news, 6/15: Victor Cruz, and other stuff

Good morning, New York Giants' fans! Here are your Saturday morning links.

Cruz likely will show up by August 6 | ProFootballTalk
While it’s still possible that Giants receiver Victor Cruz will skip training camp and uncur daily fines of $30,000 despite signing his restricted free agency tender, it’s highly unlikely that he’ll hold out beyond August 6.

Because Cruz is now under contract, failing to show up at least 30 days before the regular-season opener on September 5 between the Ravens and Broncos means that Cruz would lose a year of credit toward free agency. Which, in Cruz’s case, means he wouldn’t be a free agent in March 2014.

NFL.com's Aditi Kinkhabwala reported Friday that the Giants were planning to reduce Cruz's tender if he failed to sign by Monday.

Bill Barnwell on the teams that still have holes in their rosters - Grantland
Outside Linebacker, Giants It's an annual struggle for Giants fans. Even though the Giants simply don't value linebackers as high priorities, a good percentage of the fan base wants the team to finally hit free agency and go after a notable backer or two. After all, the last time the Giants really paid top dollar for a linebacker was when they signed Antonio Pierce, and he was a defensive leader on a Super Bowl–winning team. They bought low on Michael Boley a few years ago and got a useful starter on another Super Bowl winner, so when they cut Boley this offseason, it was reasonable to assume that they might go after a useful veteran or draft his replacement. Nope. Instead, first-round busts Keith Rivers and Aaron Curry will compete for a starting job at one outside linebacker spot, with Jacquian Williams manning the other side. There's even less behind them. It's going to be a lot of fun watching them try to chase down Robert Griffin next season. Wait — sorry, to clarify, it's going to be a lot of fun for Redskins fans.

Defensive lineman Chris Canty had a dominant minicamp for Ravens - baltimoresun.com

With his towering height and impressive wingspan, defensive lineman Chris Canty is one of the most imposing players on the Ravens roster.

Canty had a dominant minicamp, disrupting passing lanes and shoving offensive linemen into the backfield.

He looked explosive and showed no lingering effects from a knee injury that bothered him last season and drew scrutiny from teams during free agent visits, including the Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Tennessee Titans.

"The knee is not a problem at all," Canty said as the Ravens wrapped up their mandatory minicamp. "The knee is fine. I feel great."

So far this off-season, the "Pistol formation" originator, Chris Ault, got hired as a consultant, coaching staffs have spent time with collegiate teams like Alabama for help defending the read/option and front offices have pushed to conduct special research to find analytical trends regarding the read/option. This off-season shows that NFL teams believe that the read-option won't be going away anytime soon.

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