Bengals cap space outlook after no long-term deal with A.J. Green

Barring something dramatic and downright outlandish, Cincinnati Bengals wideout A.J. Green will officially play the 2020 season on the franchise tag.

Green has yet to sign the tag, of course. But there’s no deadline to do so — provided he wants to play. Wednesday’s deadline was for teams to agree to long-term deals with their franchised players.

The Bengals and Green didn’t get anything done, meaning they can’t talk about a long-term pact again until after the season.

Call it a small speedbump in the offseason process. That means Green will account for about $17.9 million against the cap in 2020, currently leaving the Bengals with a top-five cap space number at around $24 million.

Over the Cap’s Nick Korte zoomed in on all the tag numbers and how it compares to the top salaries at a player’s position:

If none of these players sign a long term deal before 4 PM ET, here's what their 2021 tag amounts would be, and how it would compare to the #1 & #2 APYs at their position.

Green: higher
Yellow: <$1M lower
Pink: >$1M lower pic.twitter.com/LWucuEXeyz

— Nick Korte (@nickkorte) July 15, 2020

We’ll see what happens between Green and the Bengals this summer and if he can stay on the field during the regular season. But right now it’s pretty clear his extension money sits earmarked for a Joe Mixon extension, if not others.

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