Victor Cruz signs one-year deal with the Chicago Bears
Thursday 15 June 2017 14:42, UK
Free agent wide receiver Victor Cruz has agreed to a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears.
Cruz, 30, spent his previous six seasons with the New York Giants, and he had big seasons in 2011, 2012 and 2013, catching 241 passes for 3,626 yards and 23 touchdowns in 46 games in those three seasons.
But Cruz's career was derailed in 2014, when he tore the patellar tendon in his right knee, forcing him to miss the final 10 games of the 2014 season. A calf injury then ruled him out for the entire 2015 season.
Cruz returned last season but his production declined and he finished with 39 receptions for 586 yards and one touchdown. That prompted his release after the season.
Earlier this week, the 30-year-old raised questions about his role in the Giants' offence during a radio interview on "The Breakfast Club."
"Halfway through the year I'm ballin', the other half I'm not getting the ball," he said. "And you're just like, 'What's going on?' It was like 'Oh, I see what's happening. They don't want me here anymore.'"
Giants head coach Ben McAdoo denied Cruz's suggestion that Eli Manning was instructed not to throw to him, when asked about the comments.
"There's no accuracy to it," McAdoo said after a Giants' organised team activity Thursday.
Cruz later in the day tried to reconcile things on Twitter.
He tweeted: "I love the @Giants, they gave me a platform no one else did. I am forever grateful! I never said I was sabotaged, don't believe these headlines."
The Bears lost Alshon Jeffrey in free agency and have been busy in the offseason adding players at the wide receiver position, with Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright and Reuben Randle all signing.
2015 first-round pick Kevin White and Cameron Meredith enter the season as favourites to start but the Bears will be hoping others can emerge from their crowded depth chart.
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