Chicago is the Vector, Victor
The Bears signed free agent wide receiver Victor Cruz to a one-year, $2 million contract today, adding the former Giant to a receiving corps lacking any type of guaranteed production but one with a realistic opportunity for him to crack the roster. Cruz burst on to the scene back in 2011 with 82 catches for 1,536 yards and nine touchdowns and continued his strong play for three seasons, quickly becoming one of the best waiver wire pickups of the decade in dynasty leagues. Unfortunately, a torn patellar tendon has wiped out Cruz’ explosiveness and even after more than two years to recover, he just hasn’t looked the same since. As a result, his ADP has been hovering anywhere between 150 and 225 overall the past year.
Let’s run down some different players whose values could be affected by the move.
Victor Cruz, WR CHI
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In Chicago, Cruz will have a chance to compete with the likes of Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright and Rueben Randle in an effort to make the final 53-man roster and likely be in a battle with Wright for slot duties. Â This move is actually about the best you could hope for at this stage in Cruz’ career. While the Ravens (and possibly the Jaguars) were interested in Cruz, the Bears simply don’t have a lot on the depth chart outside of two starters who are unproven and far from sure things in the form of last year’s waiver wire darling Cameron Meredith and the oft-injured Kevin White.
Cruz believes he still has something left in the tank and has even alluded to the idea the Giants held him back last year intentionally so they could cut him this off-season and avoid paying him some incentives.  On the season, Cruz posted 39 catches for 586 yards (15.0 yards per catch) and one touchdown (in the final game) on 72 targets.  He certainly had some clunkers during the year but considering he was no better than the third target on snaps where he was on the field, those stats are more than respectable.  Still, this is a 30-year old receiver who has struggled to regain his explosiveness and now finds himself playing on a team where the offense is going to run through Jordan Howard and features a quarterback situation that isn’t exactly ideal.
You could likely find Cruz on a lot of waiver wires out there. He’s worth a look as a player who could have a career renaissance but he hasn’t shown anything that would suggest he could become the difference maker we saw early in his career. In short, if Cruz was going to recapture his early career form, it’s highly likely we would have seen it by now.  He’s not a player to aggressively over-target as there aren’t too many salsa dances expected in the future.
Markus Wheaton, Kendall Wright and Rueben Randle, WRs CHI
This trio of veterans now has more competition to make the final roster for the Bears. It’s a pretty uninspiring group but you have to figure one of them separates themselves in the off-season. Wheaton is likely the best bet after Chicago gave him $6 million guaranteed in his contract. However, any one of the three is going to be behind Kevin White and Cameron Meredith in the pecking order. In addition, the Bears are likely going to use some combination of Zach Miller, Dion Sims and Adam Shaheen in two-TE sets.  As a result, the latest ADP of this group isn’t exactly impressive.
Kevin White and Cameron Meredith, WRs CHI
White and Meredith are nearly identical in their DLF ADP (White is currently at 76.83 overall and Meredith is at 78.67). This battle is going to be interesting as each of them has talent but very different question marks surrounding them. Many believe Meredith’s season last year was a result of everyone else getting hurt around him and being in a great situation. Many also have a hard time believing Kevin White will stay healthy. It’s quite possible one (or even both) of these players emerges as a weekly starter in dynasty leagues but it’s clear the distinction between the two is razor thin. Regardless, the addition of Cruz shouldn’t affect either of these two going forward and if you have an owner in your league who believes it’s still 2011, I’d take advantage one way or another.
Mike Glennon and Mitchell Trubisky, QBs CHI
You could say this addition helps these two but let’s get real. This is a team destined to limit the number of times they put their quarterback in a position to make important throws and they’re going to run the ball a lot next season. In reality, by the time Trubisky is ready to take over and flourish, Cruz may be gone.
Cruz will be a player to root for this off-season as it’s unfortunate to see such a promising career be derailed by an injury. How owners certainly hope he’s right about the Giants holding him back but it’s highly unlikely that’s the case and Chicago isn’t exactly looking like a gold mine for fantasy performance.
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Ken is on Twitter at DLF_KenK
