A.J. Green

Andy Dalton, A.J. Green Discuss Contracts

April 21st, 2014 at 12:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Quarterback Andy Dalton and wide receiver A.J. Green were among the Bengals in attendance today for the start of the team’s voluntary offseason workout program, and Cincinnati’s offensive leaders were each asked about their contract situations. Although both players are heading into contract years, the club holds a fifth-year option on Green for 2015, while Dalton is eligible for unrestricted free agency less than a year from now.

Still, the Bengals’ signal-caller expects to remain in Cincinnati far beyond ’14, as he told reporters today. And it sounds as if the team is negotiating longer-term contracts with both players. Here are a few noteworthy quotes from Dalton, Green, and other Bengals, via ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey, Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, and Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Sulia link)….

Dalton, on whether he feels he’s the face of the Bengals’ franchise:

“I do. Everything that [coach] Marvin [Lewis] has said, [offensive coordinator] Hue [Jackson] has said, and what everybody here has told me is that, and they’ve told everybody that. So I’m confident with that. I hope to spend a lot of my career here.”

“From everything they’ve told me, they’re not bringing in anybody to compete.”

Dalton, on the value of quarterbacks for NFL franchises:

“It’s a quarterback-driven league, so quarterbacks get rewarded a lot of money. For a lot of these quarterbacks, if you’re the quarterback of the team, you’re the face of the franchise. So these teams obviously believe in their guy and they’re going to pay him that way.”

Dalton, on potentially playing out the final year of his contract without an extension:

“There’s obviously some risk when that goes on, but I am confident in everything that I have been able to do and what I am going to do this year. If it comes to that then it comes to that but I think both sides want to get it done. So, hopefully [an extension] happens.”

Green, on his own contract situation:

“I don’t pay attention to that stuff. I’m still under contract. Like I say, my body of work speaks for itself. Whenever the time’s right, it’s right. That’s one thing I don’t get involved with. I just go out there and play the game and whatever happens, happens.”

Defensive leader Domata Peko on the possibility of the Bengals locking up key players:

“Andy, A.J. and Vontaze [Burfict], man, they deserve to be paid. I can’t wait to see when they sign their deals. It’ll be awesome. That’s good for our team because they’re a big part of our team and we just want to make sure we keep those guys locked down because they’re a hell of a few players.”

Mike Brown On Bengals, Dalton, Green

March 23rd, 2014 at 4:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Bengals owner Mike Brown sat down with Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer and Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com to discuss Cincinnati’s offseason priorities, including possible extensions for quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green. Here are a few notable quotes from Brown:

On exorbitant free agent salaries, specifically for quarterbacks:

“The player market is something that always is surprising. Why the prices are so high is hard to know for sure. You look backwards and there have been more bad deals then good deals from a clubs perspective. That doesn’t mean there haven’t been some good deals — there have. More often than not you don’t win overpaying a guy.

“With quarterbacks there is another dilemma. With a fixed cap there is a certain amount of money and no more. You allocate that on a quarterback you have less to hand out to everybody else. It can cause attrition. We are going through a difficult time right now because we are trying to work through a deal with Andy and trying to hold back enough money in the cap to do that, yet we don’t know what that is.”

On whether Dalton is the long-term answer at quarterback, and whether the Bengals will extend him:

“We are going to try to get something done but I don’t know if we are going to be able to or not. At some point we are going to have to do something more than just let everyone else leave waiting to get something done with that situation. We held back this year trying to put ourselves in a position to get him done. If it turns out it can’t be made to work we will do something elsewhere. I don’t think we plan to go another year the way we did this year.”

On a possible extension for Green:

“A.J. has one difference, you can tender him (with the transition tag — $10.176 million for WR in 2014) [Ed. note: The Bengals hold a 2015 option on Green at the value of the transition tag because he was a top ten draft pick]. That takes a big chunk of money. He’d probably get it anyway. It keeps him on the reservation, he’s not going to be leaving. He’s going to be here for not one more year but two more years. Even though we haven’t tendered him yet our intention is to do that and put ourselves in position to turn to others such as Dalton and we would like to turn to a couple more as well. We would like to get something long term but at least we know with A.J. we have two years. With some of the others we have one year.”

On head coach Marvin Lewis and the lack of playoff success:

“[M]y reaction to disappointment is not lop off people’s heads. I think we proved that we were pretty good, that we have a good, solid football team. I don’t know that starting over suddenly is the best way to take the next step. I think we have a strong base, we can build on that. One of these days we won’t fumble and they will. If that is patience, then I guess I am patient.”

AFC North Notes: Blount, Harrison, Extensions

March 23rd, 2014 at 11:21am CST by Rory Parks

The Ravens have interest in free agent RB LeGarrette Blount, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Wilson writes that the Ravens do not have a visit scheduled for Blount at this time, but they will continue to monitor his market. Baltimore struggled mightily in most aspects of its offense last season, and short-yardage situations were particularly troublesome. Blount would be a boon in that regard, and he would also provide necessary depth given Ray Rice‘s struggles last season–and his legal troubles this offseason–and Bernard Pierce‘s injury concerns. As our Peter Sowards reported yesterday, Blount is scheduled to meet with the division rival Steelers later this week.

More notes from the AFC North:

Speaking of the Steelers, Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes that a reunion with James Harrison makes a great deal of sense for a team with little defensive depth and limited salary cap space. Starkey could envision a limited role for Harrison as a situational pass-rusher and short-yardage defender. As our Luke Adams noted several days ago, there is mutual interest in Harrison’s potential return to Pittsburgh.
Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com and Pat McManamon of ESPN.com offer some opinions on Browns QB Brian Hoyer and WR Greg Little. Grossi believes that Hoyer has demonstrated enough to go into the season as the starting QB, and McManamon believes the Browns may feel the same way. As for Little, despite the frustration of Browns’ fans, Grossi notes that Little’s reasonable contract, his size, and his durability are all reasons why the Browns will probably hang onto him for another season. McManamon makes a similar point, though he does point out that if the Browns were to draft someone like Clemson WR Sammy Watkins, Little could be on his way out.
Coley Harvey of ESPN.com writes that there is nothing on the horizon yet regarding contract extensions for Bengals standouts A.J. Green, Andy Dalton, and Vontaze Burfict, but that negotiations could become more serious once the current phase of free agency concludes.
Despite the signing of Marshall Newhouse, Harvey believes the Bengals would “absolutely” consider an offensive tackle in the early rounds of the draft.