A.J. Green arrived in Cincinnati like a lion (or a Bengal, on the off chance that you like) and went out like a lamb, however he’s not yet done lacing them up.
Green is gone to the desert, consenting to a one-year, $8 million deal with the Arizona Cardinals, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport announced. The contract includes a base salary of $6 million, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo revealed, with incentives available to push the all out to its maximum value. The group later annonced the signing.
Green’s agreement was the start of an exciting Wednesday for the Cardinals, who are likewise set to address an immense need on the inside of the hostile line as they are concluding the acquisition of center Rodney Hudson from the Las Vegas Raiders in an exchange that will see Arizona additionally get a seventh-round pick and send a third-round choice to the Raiders, Garafolo and NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport announced.
Green moves west subsequent to shutting his time in Cincinnati in calm style, getting only 47 of his 104 focuses for 523 yards and two scores in 2020. His 11.1 yards per get, 2.9 gatherings per game and two accepting scores were the most reduced of his profession, and it turned out to be clear as the season advanced that the future at the position would be with youngster Tee Higgins as the Bengals’ top objective, not Green.
The seven-time Pro Bowler will join a Cardinals group that is stacking up for a pursue at the end of the season games shriveling down the stretch. He’ll add to an accepting corps that likewise incorporates DeAndre Hopkins, Christian Kirk and Andy Isabella, and could see the arrival of Larry Fitzgerald, if he chooses he needs to proceed with his Hall of Fame career.
While Green is plainly on the back nine of his own NFL career and has declined in various key metrics over the most recent three years (he didn’t play in 2019), a resurgence in Arizona is conceivable in an offense powered by quarterback Kyler Murray and coordinated by pass-accommodating mentor Kliff Kingsbury. He’ll at any rate give some protection to an expected flight of Fitzgerald – regardless of whether Green isn’t the sort to supplant Fitzgerald in the opening, where the veteran moved as of late – and if Fitzgerald winds up returning, the Cardinals will focus on a gathering that could incorporate upwards of three pass-catchers who could one day end up in Canton.