New Bears WR Victor Cruz Took a Shot At Former Team

On the surface it seemed like new Bears receiver Victor Cruz was justifiably released by his former team the New York Giants. After all he'd missed 26 games between 2014 and 2015 with repeated leg injuries. Having added a number of weapons to their offense during his absence, it made sense they didn't want to keep paying a 30-year old player they felt they no longer needed. However, it seems Cruz himself isn't ready to buy that story. Many veterans cut by the teams where they became stars feel jilted by the sequence of events. More than that though is the fact he publicly accused them of freezing him out of the offense. As in the Giants didn't try to get him the ball more often when they should've. Maybe that's just bitterness from having to take a backseat to Odell Beckham Jr. Then again, from the way he tells it, that's not the case.

Bears receiver Victor Cruz has a beef

Being a former undrafted free agent, Cruz carries a gigantic chip on his shoulder. He's had to fight for everything he's gotten in the NFL. So of course doesn't like it when he feels a team is jerking him around. It seems the Giants started doing that last season and he said so on a New York R&B radio show called "The Breakfast Club" a couple days ago.

"Halfway through the year, you're like, 'OK, I'm ballin' and then the other half I'm not getting the ball," Cruz said. "And you're just like, 'What's going on?' It was like 'OK, I see what's happening. They don't want me here anymore.' " "It's hard to believe," Cruz continued. "Even just to think about someone coming up to the quarterback and saying 'Hey, don't throw it here' or 'Don't give it to this guy' -- it's hard to even fathom that thought. Which I don't even know or think happens. I doubt it. But when you look at the film and you look at how it goes down, that's the only way."

Is he right? Well according to Pro-Football-Reference the numbers tell an interesting story. Through the first eight games of his comeback tour, Cruz was targeted 42 times. Through the final eight games he was targeted 30 times. Not only that but if one were to subtract his game against Philadelphia where he was thrown at 13 times, that decreased to 17 times in seven games. So in this context Cruz certainly isn't lying.

Out to prove something

Based on projections had the Giants stayed at their normal target pace from the first half of the season, Cruz would likely have gone over 750 yards. Not bad for a guy who hadn't played in over a year and a half. Not only that, but he was also averaging just over 15 yards per reception. It demonstrated he hadn't lost too much of that trademark speed and quickness that made him so dangerous back in 2011 and 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9AVCZr4020 The Bears may have paid him some guaranteed money, but that might be because they feel he can still be a playmaker if given the opportunity. Given the mercurial state of their depth chart, he may just get it. Cruz no doubt is anxious to prove something. Both to himself and the team who felt he wasn't worth keeping around anymore.