New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz has insisted that he could have got more money had he joined a franchise in a less fashionable city instead of renewing with his current club.
Cruz said that it was "tough" to accept the six-year, £28.8m deal the Giants offered but he opted to stay because of his family ties.
"I'm not going to lie, it's tough," Cruz told Sirius XM Radio. "When you understand from a numbers standpoint, and the numbers you put up you feel like you deserve a certain amount of money ... and you want your team to owe that to you.
"You see guys getting these huge paydays and you feel like you're at the same calibre, if not better than some of those guys.
"You ask yourself, 'Would you want to play for this amount in New York and play in the best city in the world and play football?'. Or do you want to take a big payday and go somewhere like, you know, Kansas City or Minnesota."
Cruz averaged 15.6 yards per reception in his first three years in the NFL.
