Giants' Cruz to sign tender

New York, NY – New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz is reportedly set to sign his one-year tender offer.

According to the New York Daily News, Cruz has decided to take the club's offer of $2.879 million while negotiations toward a long-term contract continue.

The paper also said the Giants would have been able to reduce the tender offer next week to just $630,000 under terms of the collective bargaining agreement.

Cruz signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2010 and has been a dominant performer the past two years while playing for minimal money. He had 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns in his breakout year of 2011, then followed it up with 86 receptions for 1,092 yards and 10 scores last year while being paid $540,000.

Reports have indicated that Cruz initially wanted a long-term deal in the neighborhood of about $11 million per year and would settle for at least an average of $9 million, while the Giants have apparently offered an average of $8 million per season.

Cruz could have fielded offers from other teams under the terms of the tender offer, but the Giants would have had the option to match. As a result, he missed this spring's OTAs and a recent minicamp, but should be at training camp in July.