A.J. Green To Play Out Final Year Of Contract

In a refreshing change of pace from the already-outplayed Dez Bryant fiasco, Cincinnati Bengals wideout A.J. Green has announced he will play out the final season of his contract.

“I don’t get into all the ‘I need a contract’ stuff,” Green told reporters last week. “I’m not here for money. I’m not broke. So I’m fine. I can wait until the end of the year to get a contract, but I know that time is coming.”

The diplomatic Green chose his words well, declaring he is just as ready for competition this season as he will be for negotiations when it is over. Green is undoubtedly the most crucial player on Cincy’s offense, and he knows the responsibilities placed on him if the Bengals want to finally secure that elusive playoff win this season.

Green missed three starts and left two more games early last year due to varying injuries. A nasty hit suffered in a week 17 winner-take-all encounter with the Pittsburgh Steelers kept him out of the wild-card round, and the Bengals offense was soundly humiliated without him.

Green’s rookie contract, initially signed in 2011, will yield a cool $10.176 million in base salary, an explosive figure when you consider that the first four years of that agreement were good for ‘only’ $6.9 million combined.

Perhaps that monstrous leap in disposable income is the reason for the humble Green choosing to sit back and let his game speak for itself in 2015.