It appears wide receiver Hakeem Nicks is ready to end his holdout with the New York Giants and make his first appearance with the team at the upcoming mandatory minicamp. After missing every day of the Giants' organized team activities, Nicks is ready get the season underway.
It is unclear what the motive was behind the wide receiver's absence from OTAs. The practices were voluntary, so no financial repercussions were brought upon Nicks, but that does not mean head coach Tom Coughlin was too thrilled about the absence.
"We have a mandatory camp...I would expect he would be here," Coughlin said.
While Nicks' agent stressed the wide receiver's absence was not due to his current expiring contract, he has been vocal about his desire to receive a new deal. The Giants are currently in heated discussions with teammate Victor Cruz and Nicks is determined to not get the same kind of treatment from the team. He is in the final year of his rookie contract and is set to make $2.7 million in the upcoming season.
While Nicks is vowing to be back for minicamp, Cruz will continue to be a no show. As the restricted free agent continues to holdout in hopes of receiving a large contract extension from the team, he is not expected to be at the mandatory practices. Since Cruz is not technically under contract at the moment, he will not be fined for missing the camp. Many had hoped Cruz's deal would have been done by now, but talks have stalled in recent weeks and not much has changed.
Cruz has lowered his salary demands from around $11 million per season to around $8 million per season in hopes of signing soon. Most of the Giants' front office has said they believe a deal will get done before the season begins.
The only time Cruz has been present working out was during a passing camp put on by quarterback Eli Manning. The teammates were spotted down at Duke University going through some passing drills. Manning has stressed that those practices were not a substitute for OTAs or minicamps.
While Manning spent most of OTAs throwing to wide receivers he had almost no experience with, he will at get at least one top target back in the coming week. With Nicks back, the offense can start to take shape, but the Giants are hoping to have Cruz back as well, sooner rather than later.
