N.Y.Giants: Victor Cruz facing NFL's notorious meat grinder

From the desk of:  DO IT FOR THE DUKE

The day Broadway turned into 

the Canyon of Cruz

NEW YORK GIANTS: Victor Cruz' season ending injury creates ominous atmosphere entering Bye Week.

The potentially lethal receiving tandem of Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham Jr. never materialized, and now seems as if it never will.

We're simply left to ponder, what if?

Done are the weekly guessing games that started back in August, regarding Cruz' game to game availability.  Victor will have season ending surgery performed on his persistently ailing right calf. The date of his procedure has not been set.

Mind you, Victor Cruz' odyssey started just over a year ago when he suffered a torn patellar tendon in his right knee during a game in Philadelphia.  After spending the off-season recovering and rehabbing, Cruz then injured his calf during training camp.  After ten weeks of treatment and repeated setbacks, he ultimately tore the main calf muscle during Monday's practice.

This leaves Eli Manning and OBJ continuing making due with a relatively poor running game, no tight end to speak of, an enigmatic Rueben Randle, and the yawn inspiring return of old favorite Hakeem Nicks.

In truth, we haven't seen Victor Cruz in full salsa stride ever since signing a lucrative 5-year contract ($43 million) in 2013, which still has three years and $24 million dollars remaining.  Over the last three seasons, he has totaled 18 starts (through 48 team games), and is about to undergo his third surgery.  His first was performed on his left knee at the tail end of 2013, then came last year's aforementioned procedure to his right knee.

Victor Cruz turned 29-years old earlier this month, and is now additionally faced with becoming a salary cap casualty.  Suffice to say the hard cold reality of operating in the NFL presents both Cruz and the Giants with an equally costly dilemma.

While the timing is somewhat ironic, what a rude way of heading into the Giants' bye week - I mean, quite literally, this may mean goodbye to Victor Cruz.

Everything regarding his future in football/Giants is purely speculative at this point.  So, in the meantime, the ring's the thing, man!  Thank you, Victor, for helping win number four, and congratulations to you on number one.

Local kid did good - his will always remain a great story no matter what happens moving forward.