And the Newest Pipe Dream Trade For Eagles Fans Should Be…
Alright, so it’s been like 3 weeks since the Eagles missed out on Jalen Ramsey as he was traded to the Rams. Which, in Philly sports time is basically 44 years. It is time to pick ourselves up, get back on the saddle and chase down stars from other teams that we probably have no chance of getting.
Without Jalen Ramsey, the Eagles are in dire need of cornerback help, I hear ya. Patrick Peterson or Chris Harris, just any name with some palpable buzz around it will calm our nerves. But here’s one name completely unrelated to the secondary disaster that we could (and should) discuss: AJ Green.
Green is on an expiring contract (that’s an NBA term, do you see what I did there) and going nowhere fast with the Cincinnati Bengals. For the time being, the Bengals are eating a $15 million cap hit for the receiver to stand on the sideline. Green has yet to play this year because of a training camp ankle injury and why would he?! The Bengals are winless and hopeless. There is no point for Green to fuck his money up by playing for a team with no playoff chances. In fact, AJ’s presence on the field may hinder the only thing Cincy has hope for: the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Trading AJ Green would allow the Bengals to propel their much needed rebuild before he likely walks as an unrestricted free agent after the season anyways. He’s likely played his last meaningful down as a Bengal and if he were smart, he would take the Ramsey way out and get treatment on this ankle issue until the Bengals find a trade partner…then start playing again. Getting traded to some sort of contender would allow Green to showcase his productivity (and health) before heading into free agency and cashing out. If he were to stay with the Bengals he would be in the lose/lose situation of: playing for a horrible team and getting hurt before free agency OR playing for a horrible team and not being able to produce before free agency.
A trade would be a way out of that lose/lose for Green as it would allow him get to a contender and prove his worth, before likely what will be his final big contract at age 31.
Now for the Eagles, why does this make sense? We have invested into the receiving core quite a bit already and the salary cap is tight as well all know. But, let’s take the long view for a second. Alshon Jeffery now has guaranteed money through 2020 after a recent restructure but that’s about it. Nelson Agholor had his $9.4 million option picked up last offseason, but he will now be an unrestricted as we head into 2020. The way Desean Jackson’s contract is structured, the Eagles have the flexibility to end it after Year 2 or keep on going. Unless this thing completely goes to shit and they land CeeDee Lamb early in the draft, wide receiver will quickly become a position of need.
Now let’s talk about it from a production standpoint, as if we really even need to do it after this lackluster start to the season for Eagles receivers. We wouldn’t need to trade for AJ Green if we had a receiver on the team who was known for being a big, physical threat who specialized in winning jump balls. I really wish the Eagles would’ve focused on that in the draft this past year. Like I really, really wish they would’ve spent a 2nd round pick on a player like that. I just really, really wish there was someone who was on Stanford’s team last year who could fill that role on our team. Damn, too bad.
On top of that, AJ Green has not exactly been a beacon of health but the oft injured Desean Jackson is now in his sixth week of being “week to week”. Alshon Jeffery has had an underwhelming start, hobbled by a calf injury and has not produced the way a #1 receiver should. Jeffery has not had a single 100-yard receiving game this year. Even if you take the two injury ridden games out of the equation, Alshon would be on pace for 860 receiving yards. AJ Green has had 1,000+ yards receiving in every season he has been fully healthy and played 16 games. The lowest yards per game average AJ Green has ever had was 67.4. Before that it was his rookie season at 70.5. The Eagles have only had 5 instances this entire season where a receiver eclipses 70 yards receiving. One of those instances was Zach Ertz. Another was Miles Sanders.
Word from the Eagles locker room is that shit is too complicated, so let’s keep shit simple for them: the receivers aren’t producing enough and AJ Green would. AJ Green has no reason to play for the Bengals ever again and the Bengals have no reason to play him. The Eagles can contribute a 2nd round pick to the Cincinnati Bengals rebuild project or the Bengals can get nothing and watch AJ Green walk in five months.
Now that the Jalen Ramsey pipe dream is over, it’s time to create a new one centering around AJ Green. Let’s just make sure he doesn’t have Josina Anderson’s phone number first.