Patriots: Insider explains why Bill Belichick isn’t going to trade for AJ Green

A Patriots insider explained why GM Bill Belichick isn’t going to trade for Bengals wide receiver AJ Green before the deadline.

Patriots fans are so desperate to see Cam Newton equipped with a game-breaking wide receiver that they want the franchise to trade for seemingly anyone who isn’t currently lighting it up with their respective organization or is in the midst of a contract dispute.

As far as high-profile names are concerned, the Patriots have been linked (albeit faintly) with the likes of Odell Beckham Jr. and Allen Robinson. The two stars were previously butting heads with their franchises, but that beef has since been resolved and both are now seemingly off the trade market, which is the opposite of gripping.

Well, according to one Patriots insider, Doug Kyed of NESN, fans in New England can go right ahead and cross off the possibility of the team trading for Bengals superstar AJ Green, whose days in Cincinnati could be numbered in light of his latest injury and struggle to get on the same page with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow.

"“Green, 32, missed all of last season and seven of 16 games in 2018, yet the Bengals decided it was in their best interest to franchise Green to the tune of $18.171 million,” Kyed wrote. “He’s making over $1 million per game but has just 14 catches on 34 targets for 119 yards in five games.”“Bengals QB Joe Burrow is completing 65.2 percent of his passes this season. That’s 41.7 percent to Green and 70 percent to everyone else. Green is dragging down Burrow’s completion percentage by nearly 5 points.”"

After reading that, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a rebuttal that could make a case for the Patriots to trade for Green. In fact, when considering those variables, we couldn’t help but be reminded of the disaster Mohamed Sanu trade at the 2019 deadline.

Green has been limited by injuries in three of the last four seasons, and you really have to wonder if they’re beginning to take a toll on his 32-year-old body. The seven-time Pro Bowler’s production has unsurprisingly declined across that span, as he’s failed to register more than 75 receptions and 1,110 yards in a single season since 2015.

Could leaving Cincinnati, where he’s spent his entire nine-year career, be the motivation Green needs to return to being one of the league’s best receivers? It’s certainly possible. He probably wants nothing to do with the Bengals’ rebuild and playing for a postseason contender in the Patriots might be the perfect situation for him.

Green’s trade value is also clearly the lowest its ever been, so Belichick likely wouldn’t have to give up more than a mid-round draft pick in return for him. Despite all of that — and the Patriots being flush with salary cap space — however, it simply wouldn’t make much sense to trade for an aging veteran in Green who is evidently on the decline.

The negatives far outweigh the positives, and that isn’t up for debate.

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