Victor Cruz was one of the biggest stars of the Giants’ run to the Super Bowl win this season — now he wants to be paid like one. Four days after helping the Giants win Super Bowl XLVI, Cruz said he ‘deserves’ a big raise before the 2012-13 season. “I think I was paid relative to where I came in this year, and I came in as a free agent so I don’t feel like I was underpaid,” Cruz said on PFT Live. “After my performance this year, I feel like I deserve to be paid more money at this point.” Cruz, 25, an undrafted free agent, made just $450,000 this season, but emerged as one of the top receivers in the NFL with 82 catches for a franchise-record 1,536 yards. He became a celebrity, too, thanks to his salsa touchdown dance that made him a household name and earned him an invitation to compete on ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars”. Still, he’s two seasons away from being an unrestricted free agent and — as with all Super Bowl champs — he’s not the only player looking to a significant bump in pay. “That’s a good problem to have,” GM Jerry Reese said in a conference call Thursday. “You win the Super Bowl, if everybody thinks they’re the reason you won, that’s a good problem to have. It means you won it. It’s just part of the offseason. There’s always contract issues in the offseason. That’s what the offseason is. You have to deal with contracts, who’s going to stay, who’s going to go.” Some players — such as defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who had 12½ sacks in 13 games this season — have been waiting quite a while for a raise. Reese also has to figure out what to do with 21 unrestricted players on his current roster, and some others — receiver Hakeem Nicks, linebacker Mathias Kiwanuka, defensive end Justin Tuck and cornerback Corey Webster — who might be in line for significant new contracts soon, too. The Giants don’t figure to have much wiggle room under the salary cap. Reese said he expects the NFL’s cap to remain “flat” at around $120 million, possibly even a little less than where it was last season. The Giants had little room to maneuver under the cap last summer, and it likely will be that way again when free agency opens on March 13. So they’re going to have to choose their raises wisely, especially to players such as Cruz, who have little leverage. Cruz, though, made it clear while signing autographs on Thursday night that he definitely intends to ask. “Honestly, with what I did this year — statistically and the records and everything like that — obviously I feel like just looking at the top players in the league and looking at what I did this year, I feel like, naturally, there should be an increase in pay,” Cruz said. Reese, however, wouldn’t tip his hand when it comes to Cruz. “There’s a lot of discussion on guys and on salaries and where we go and where we can’t go,” he said. “But we’ll be ready.” Reese was purposely vague on how he planned to be ready to navigate what could be many offseason issues. He said only, “We’re in the very early stages of the evaluation process.” But he did say that while he expects to keep most of the Super Bowl XLVI champs together, changes are still on the way. “Every offseason the team changes,” he said. “There will be a strong core of our current players coming back, I can tell you that. But there will definitely be some changes.” Twitter.com/TheBlueScreen
Victor Cruz became the first player to line up outside the Giants' bank vault looking for more money after the Super Bowl championship. But Giants GM Jerry Reese knows he won't be the last.