A.J. Green keeps sending the Bengals a message, but they aren’t listening
By Steve Rivera
Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green has made it pretty clear about what he would like to see from the organization. Unfortunately, they aren’t listening in Cincinnati.
The Cincinnati Bengals want to be better. The organization looks poised to make a smart decision and draft Joe Burrow. Duke Tobin seems to be saying all the right things in Mobile, Alabama. Meanwhile, A.J. Green waits to get paid.
On Thursday, the would-be Bengals receiver made clear that the franchise tag is not his preference, not by a long shot, but that he wouldn’t pass on the money. In comments made to WLWT reporter Elise Jesse, Green said he would not necessarily turn down the $18 million one year tag, but also said the “franchise tag is not the best thing” as it indicates the organization is only interested in a single one year deal.
Green isn’t wrong. The Bengals are sitting on the fence and have been for too long. What is increasingly apparent is that Cincinnati is interested in Green but only on the cheap. Green knows this and has been sending every message possible that such a plan is not going to set well with him.
AJ Green told me he thinks he still has many NFL years left in him, “I think there’s a lot of great years ahead of me. I’m looking forward to wherever that happens, wherever the contract happens, franchise tag, I don’t care. I just want to get back to playing football”.
— Elise Jesse (@EliseJesseTV) January 23, 2020
Say what you want about Green. He’s a player on the other side of 30, injury-prone, but when on the field, he has produced. Meanwhile, the Bengals continue to flirt with Green and seem only interested in using the one avenue A.J. isn’t interested in. The Bengals seem content to ignore his wishes, and risk Green being a player who might rather be elsewhere if this bleeds into the summer and ultimately, training camp.
"“I wouldn’t sit out [the season], but you have to understand that the franchise tag means you’re not committed to the long term so the off-season workouts, training camp, stuff like that would be questionable. I don’t know about training camp, because I still have to get in football shape. Definitely not OTAs.”"
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In a season where the Bengals need to get it right, they don’t seem capable to with Green. He’s made his position clear. Unfortunately, the Bengals don’t seem willing to listen.