A.J. Green won’t make debut until after NFL Trade Deadline, per report

The Bengals are now 0-7, and A.J. Green isn’t in any rush to make his 2019 debut.

You can’t exactly blame him in what’s been a lost season while he recovers from major ankle surgery, which has kept him sidelined for over two months now.

Now, it appears that will reach at least three full months, as Green will not play vs. the Rams next week as he won’t return until after the Week 9 bye at the earliest, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That bye week is also when the NFL Trade Deadline is.

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green is not expected to be ready to play until after the Oct. 29 trade deadline, at which time the team will assess his progress and make a determination, a source told ESPN.

Green is progressing nicely in his return from an ankle injury, according to a source. But the Bengals want to ensure a complete recovery before he returns -- with the organization looking out for the player’s best interest beyond any single game.

Not only is this significant due to the fact Green simply isn’t playing, but it should end whatever remote chance there was of him being traded. Assuming the Bengals would only begin to consider a trade is if it involved a first-round pick and probably more, I can’t envision any team forking that up for a 31-year-old receiver who has missed 20 games and counting since 2016.

The problem is the longer he remains out, the harder it will be for Green and the Bengals to reach an agreement on a contract extension. He’s worth $15+ million annually when healthy, but the frequent injuries in recent years have made it highly illogical to pay him that much.

Not that the Bengals use logic when re-signing their own players.