Victor Cruz Says Benching Eli Manning Ain't a Bad Idea

Maybe Terrell Owens ain't so crazy after all ... because beloved ex-NY Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz tells TMZ Sports it might be time to finally sit Eli Manning.

Remember, T.O. strongly called for the Giants to move on from #10 -- saying the skills are "eroding" and "the writing's on the wall."

So, when we saw Cruz -- who won Super Bowl 46 after the 2011 season with Manning -- we had to ask if the Giants should bench their legendary QB.

"Maybe, yes at the moment," Cruz said ... "just to see what I got in my future. Just to see what's going on."

In other words, the Giants should test their backups to see if anyone can get the offense going.

The problem for the Giants -- their backup QB, Kyle Lauletta, was arrested in New Jersey earlier this week after cops say he almost ran over an officer with his car during a stop.

Might not be the right time to anoint him the QB of the future ...

As for Eli, if the Giants really do want to move on -- but Eli still wants to play in the League -- Cruz says he doesn't think Manning would have a problem getting hired somewhere else.

"It would be weird to see him in another jersey," Cruz told us ... "but I think he'll find a job somewhere for sure."