5:52pm: Green was in Green Bay today to visit with foot specialist Dr. Robert Anderson, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). As Schefter notes, that development certainly makes it sound as if Green will not suit up for either of the Bengals’ remaining two games.
09:33am: The Bengals haven’t ruled out playing A.J. Green before the season is through, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The veteran has looked good in practice and wants to play, so it’s possible that he could make his belated 2019 debut in Week 16 or 17.
Green hasn’t played a single snap this season after suffering ankle damage during training camp. The Bengals opted against putting him on injured reserve to start the year, which would have mandated an absence of at least eight games. Without Green, the Bengals have gone 1-13.
The Bengals are reportedly not close to an extension with Green, so this could be his last opportunity to suit up in orange. In theory, the Bengals could keep him with the franchise tag, but the former first-round pick has been adamantly opposed to that.
“I don’t really care about (the contract negotiations),” Green said earlier this year. “If they’re worried about me not playing or not being healthy, then there’s 32 teams out there. I’m not really worried about that situation.”
Green became the NFL’s highest-paid receiver in 2015 after inking a four-year, $60MM extension, but his $15MM average annual value now ranks 11th at the position. The former No. 4 overall selection will be 32 years old when the 2020 campaign gets underway, and Green’s recent injury history — at least six missed games in 2016, 2018, and 2019 — will certainly factor into his asking price, but he should still be expected to command a lucrative multi-year deal if he does hit the free agent market.
The Bengals will finish out the year with games against the Dolphins and Browns.
His contract ranks 11th at the position and he ranks much lower than 11th best WR in the league so he’s gotten overpaid for a while now.
QB play is a large part of a WR’s production, and Cincy’s hasn’t been the greatest. If Green had Brees throwing to him, he’d be a monster.
If Green had Stevie Wonder throwing you him, he’d be a monster.
Bengals treat the O-Line like it’s an after thought
When he’s been healthy, he’s performed just a shade under elite. And that’s with Andy Dalton throwing him the ball for the past few years, and its not like Dalton has been picking apart defenses in that time span. So let’s not act like the Bengals overpaid a scrub here. When he signed the contract Green was an elite WR and arguably a top 3-5 WR overall at the time. Is he a top 10-11 WR in the league right now? Probably not (although one could probably make a decent argument for it) but he’s still a top 15-20 WR at worst when healthy and a guy that defenses definitely have to gameplan for.
You have no clue what your talking about. AJ has never been overpayed as a receiver. He’s been paid on what he’s worth to the Bengals, not what other receivers make or how you rank him. He was hurt this year trying to catch an under thrown ball by Dalton (which he’s had to deal with his whole career). You could argue that he’s made Andy Dalton overpaid, but Green has earned his money in Cincinnati. Green would have been a Hall of Fame candidate if he had a real QB his whole career.
He hasn’t put together a healthy season in 3 years. I would say they paid him for his past production and kept him due to nostalgia.
Why? your fragile and you were only supposed to miss a handful of games you playing for a contract
The NFL is a “what have you done for us lately?” league where nobody is irreplaceable…so I would start worrying.