Holdout? Cruz says it's not on his mind

Holdout? Cruz says it's not on his mind

Corey Sipkin/New York Daily News

Victor Cruz says Tuesday that the word ‘holdout’ isn’t in his vocabulary, which must be music to the Giants’ ears.

Victor Cruz enjoyed a dream 2011 season, setting a Giants team record for receiving yards and winning a Super Bowl title. And he has no plans to let a contract squabble turn his next season into a nightmare.

< p> Cruz has said that he is dissatisfied with his current contract which will pay him just $ 540,000 this season but at an NFL jersey unveiling event in Brooklyn on Tuesday, he made one thing clear: That frustration will not spill onto the football field. There will be no training camp holdout, Cruz promised. The rags-to-riches story that gripped the NFL a season ago, still wants to simply go out there and play football.

Not at all, he said, when asked if the term holdout had entered his head. Thats not even in my vocabulary. I dont even know what it means.

With the Giants battling other cap issues, GM Jerry Reese has given little indication that he will renegotiate Cruzs contract. But while Cruz hired a new contract agent, Malik Shareef, last month, he is doing his best to avoid fighting the Giants.

Im not frustrated at all, he said. When I was young, it wasnt about the money. It wasnt about the fame and fortune. It was just going o ut there and playing football. Regardless of how short term this career can be, I just want to go out there and play.

Still, Cruz realizes that things will be vastly different for him in 2012. He joked that hes replicating his 2011 preseason training regimen to a tee, even donning the same sneakers he did a year ago, but one look at the media throng that surrounded him on Tuesday shows how much things have changed.

Cruz joined a plethora of other NFL stars at Steiner Studios, where Nike unveiled its new team jerseys. But while Arizona Cardinals star receiver Larry Fitzgerald drew just a handful of media, Cruz disappeared into a sea of TV cameras and recorders.

Its funny what a year can do, he said.

Plenty of things have changed for Cruzs Giants, too. Third receiver Mario Manningham left for a two-year deal with the 49ers, a loss that Cruz said will change his role. Cruz said he expects to probably get a little bit more targets, and he knows th at opponents will key on him far more. And last week, new Cowboys corner Brandon Carr said he didnt plan on seeing no dancing, when Dallas opened the season against the Giants in September.

I understand guys are going to talk and this and that, but its only April, he said of Carrs comments. And weve got a long way to go.

Im just happy to be here, Cruz added. All the hard work that I put into this game and my life, its actually paying off.

Except in his paycheck.

This news was first reported in The Blue Screen