We have a break in the stalemate between Victor Cruz and the New York Giants.
Cruz traveled to the Giants' facility Friday morning and signed his first-round restricted free-agent tender of $2.87 million.
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"I'm going to sign my tender today and will continue talks for a long-term deal before camp starts," Cruz told ESPN's Josina Anderson on Friday morning.
The Giants had the opportunity to reduce Cruz's tender to $630,000 if he did not sign it by next Monday, NFL.com's Ian Rapoport reported. We imagine this was a motivating factor for Cruz, who sat out all offseason activities while looking for a long-term contract. The two sides still are far apart on that issue, according to Rapoport.
Now that he signed his tender, Cruz contractually will be bound to attend Giants training camp next month. Rapoport reported that Cruz plans to show up for training camp.
Cruz can be fined $30,000 for every day of training camp he misses.
UPDATE:NFL.com's Aditi Kinkhabwala reports that the Giants have offered Cruz a long-term deal worth in the neighborhood of $8 million annually and the team believes the offer is more than fair. Cruz's camp is asking for more money, both per year and in bonus. Kinkhabwala reports that the Giants have no intentions of budging from those numbers.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
