Patriots targeting AJ Green

[bengaloo]

(02-14-2020, 08:07 PM)Bengalstripes18 Wrote: Especially dont give up on your best player when he’s a team first guy that wants to stay here. If it were an Antonio Brown/TO type player that would be totally different. How rare is it to have a wideout as good as he is that isnt a diva?

Pretty rare for us, especially for a guy on his level.

What concerns me about losing AJ is how terrible we always are without him. We dont have anyone else who is a legit #1 and a rookie has a slim chance of being that his rookie year. We could bring in a FA, but they wont have the chemistry and respect in the locker room that AJ has already established.

Whether he stays or goes, he deserves a ton of credit for what he brought to this offense. Without him, we probably would not have made the playoffs at all in the Dalton era. He has played hard for us and elevated the play of every QB who has thrown to him. He stayed loyal even though he had an average QB who could rarely hit him in stride. I would like to see us let AJ's presence on the field help take pressure off Burrow and the other WRs. Not too mention, I think he's going to come back fully healthy and totally hungry to play ass off.

[Luvnit2]

(02-14-2020, 04:15 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Problem is that teams that might be interested in digning green to a FA deal may not want to give up something in trade for him with $18+ million guaranteed tag contract.

Wouldn't team who trades for him have until June or so to redo his contract?

I thought if we tagged AJ, we still could continue contract talks for a few months.

[grampahol]

Knowing Mike Brown he'll trade AJ for the Sword of Damocles and announce how lonely it is at the top.

[lone bengal]

(02-14-2020, 10:59 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I would rather keep AJ with an incentive laden extension and Draft O-line early honestly.

Get a LB in FA. I think this could be likely.

I just don't want us to get saddled with the Tag which could stop us from grabbing any decent FA's.

If we Tag AJ, he keeps getting hurt and we don't get OL or LB in FA we are in deep shit regardless of our weapons.

If the QB has no time he cannot find them anyways.

Agreed tagging Green for a year could hurt us long term. Green can just walk at the end of this year and then we’re back at square one at WR. Tagging a 32 year at 18 million could prevent us from signing a young lineman or linebacker that could be a young building block for the future. This teams biggest issue is they have no long term plan. They should be rebuilding around Burrow with young talent because this roster has a ton of holes that can’t be addressed in a single offseason.

[Bengalholic]

(02-15-2020, 10:26 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Wouldn't team who trades for him have until June or so to redo his contract?

I thought if we tagged AJ, we still could continue contract talks for a few months.

They have until mid-July to get a new contract done, but could negotiate a new deal as part of the trade as well.

[Shake n Blake]

(02-14-2020, 10:34 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: All the people that want to let AJ go will be the same ones whining when we take a WR with our 2nd or 3rd pick...

You absolutely can’t go into the season with a rookie QB having Auden Tate or John Ross as your #2.

I don't think anyone is saying we should let AJ walk and just sit on our hands after that.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(02-15-2020, 08:05 AM)bengaloo Wrote: Pretty rare for us, especially for a guy on his level.

What concerns me about losing AJ is how terrible we always are without him. We dont have anyone else who is a legit #1 and a rookie has a slim chance of being that his rookie year. We could bring in a FA, but they wont have the chemistry and respect in the locker room that AJ has already established.

Whether he stays or goes, he deserves a ton of credit for what he brought to this offense. Without him, we probably would not have made the playoffs at all in the Dalton era. He has played hard for us and elevated the play of every QB who has thrown to him. He stayed loyal even though he had an average QB who could rarely hit him in stride. I would like to see us let AJ's presence on the field help take pressure off Burrow and the other WRs. Not too mention, I think he's going to come back fully healthy and totally hungry to play ass off.

Great post, bengaloo.

While others are planning Dalton’s parade, I’ll give my thanks to the guy that really carried this team for so many years. Regardless what happens going forward, AJ was a special player, and I’ll miss the hell out of him if he’s done here. We’ve been very spoiled having 2 elite WR’s in a row.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(02-15-2020, 07:34 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I don't think anyone is saying we should let AJ walk and just sit on our hands after that.

Seems that way. I see a lot of people wanting us to go completely OL and defense in the draft.

[jfkbengals]

With the CBA prohibiting the poison pill from contracts, I have to believe the Bengals should use the first round transition tag on Green and match any offer sheet he should sign...

[ezekiel23]

If Green goes,they might spend their first pick of the second round on a WR.This years draft has some really good wide receivers in it.Probably the deepest position in the draft.It would be a tough decision to make.I’m confident that after a full season to recover that he’ll be rejuvenated.I look for him to come back and play well.That said,if he does leave,I wouldn’t hesitate to take a WR with the first pick of the second round.Possibly even trade up into the first.

[samhain]

(02-16-2020, 03:47 PM)ezekiel23 Wrote: If Green goes,they might spend their first pick of the second round on a WR.This years draft has some really good wide receivers in it.Probably the deepest position in the draft.It would be a tough decision to make.I’m confident that after a full season to recover that he’ll be rejuvenated.I look for him to come back and play well.That said,if he does leave,I wouldn’t hesitate to take a WR with the first pick of the second round.Possibly even trade up into the first.

I'd do this anyway.  Even if Green comes back and looks like some semblance of his old self, he's probably only got 3 years max as a player of that caliber.  If the recent past is any indicator, those 3 years will be comprised of multiple stretches of unavailabitly due to injury.  They need both an insurance policy and a guy to groom as someone to step in when AJ is done.  

[Brownshoe]

I dont see why people are so afraid of losing Green. It's not like hes a young, HEALTHY WR. Green has been one of the best receivers in the league for most of the years hes been healthy. Hes just not healthy anymore. Hes had a nagging toe injury since 2014. Hes been off the field a ton since 2016. Let's face it, Green is out of his prime and hes injury prone. If we can get a good deal for him I'm all for trading him

[Gdale_Bengal]

(02-16-2020, 05:55 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: I dont see why people are so afraid of losing Green. It's not like hes a young, HEALTHY WR. Green has been one of the best receivers in the league for most of the years hes been healthy. Hes just not healthy anymore. Hes had a nagging toe injury since 2014. Hes been off the field a ton since 2016. Let's face it, Green is out of his prime and hes injury prone. If we can get a good deal for him I'm all for trading him

Yup. I'm a big AJ fan but he isnt healthy enough to play a full season. They will throw money at him and keep him but the deal will be huge to keep him from FA and it will be fun to watch until his foot is injured in week 4 and doesnt return.

Seriously, he needs to have an incentive  that makes him a boat load of money for playing in like 80% of games in a season or something.

[GreenDragon]

Franchise Tag AJ for a 1st and 3rd. The Patriots WILL make that deal because AJ + Brady WILL result in a Super Bowl win.

[*jason*]

(02-16-2020, 05:55 PM)Brownshoe Wrote: I dont see why people are so afraid of losing Green. It's not like hes a young, HEALTHY WR. Green has been one of the best receivers in the league for most of the years hes been healthy. Hes just not healthy anymore. Hes had a nagging toe injury since 2014. Hes been off the field a ton since 2016. Let's face it, Green is out of his prime and hes injury prone. If we can get a good deal for him I'm all for trading him

Take a peek at their record with and without him in the lineup... That's why.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(02-16-2020, 07:37 PM)jason Wrote: Take a peek at their record with and without him in the lineup... That's why.

That’s a bingo.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(02-16-2020, 06:40 PM)GreenDragon Wrote: Franchise Tag AJ for a 1st and 3rd. The Patriots WILL make that deal because AJ + Brady WILL result in a Super Bowl win.

Not necessarily. He didn’t win one when he had Moss. Sure would help though.

[Luvnit2]

(02-14-2020, 09:07 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I'd let AJ walk. We'll get a nice compensatory pick for him, and we can use that money to improve the team elsewhere.

Then draft a long-term replacement.

No way I let AJ walk so we get in essence an early round 4th round pick.

If I am Bengals and want to trade him, I amon phone right now with every NFL team to find out if they have an interest so come March when season begins (we can trade) I have a deal in place for a 2020 pick by signing him, then trading him.

But, I think we keep him and he retires a Bengal.

I have been critical of his availability, but injuries in the NFL are a crap shoot. It is a beast when healthy and likely much better in 2020 than any pick so if playing to win in 2020, no way I let him walk.

[Shake n Blake]

(02-15-2020, 09:06 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Seems that way. I see a lot of people wanting us to go completely OL and defense in the draft.

Free agency exists. Maybe not for the Bengals, but hypothetically.

(02-16-2020, 08:20 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: No way I let AJ walk so we get in essence an early round 4th round pick.

If I am Bengals and want to trade him, I amon phone right now with every NFL team to find out if they have an interest so come March when season begins (we can trade) I have a deal in place for a 2020 pick by signing him, then trading him.

But, I think we keep him and he retires a Bengal.

I have been critical of his availability, but injuries in the NFL are a crap shoot. It is a beast when healthy and likely much better in 2020 than any pick so if playing to win in 2020, no way I let him walk.

Some of our best players were taken in that range. Either way, that's not the only reason I'd let him go. The other (huge) reason is not allocating roughly $15 million of our cap space to a guy who has essentially missed our last 24 games.

A sign and trade sounds like a lot of work for this front office, and I doubt we get more in return than we'd get with a compensatory pick, considering his age/price/injuries.

Ultimately, I agree that we'll probably keep him. I would say the transition tag would be wise to use in this circumstance, seeing how AJ is in "prove it" territory as far as injuries. That said, I don't think having an unhappy AJ Green would be the best way to introduce Burrow to the Bengals. If we do keep him, hopefully it's a short term (1-2 years) deal that takes his injuries into account, as unfortunate as they are.

[Gdale_Bengal]

(02-16-2020, 07:37 PM)jason Wrote: Take a peek at their record with and without him in the lineup... That's why.

Because the offense has keyed off him playing. When he is injured as he often has been the past few years, you get an offense like what we have seen, with coaches unable to create an effective scheme when he isn't.

That's what teams do with a skill player who could be top 5 or so in the league. 

If this team drafts and develops WR depth, losing AJ isnt THAT bad. If Ross would stay healthy, we wouldn't be worrying about lossing AJ to FA.

Instead, we have this situation where AJ is the entire offense and losing him is basically catastrophic.