Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick was animated when a certain subject came up after Sunday’s loss: the prospect of trading A.J. Green.
Kirkpatrick offered a warning of sorts when the question got asked in response to some speculation that has made the rounds.
His answer, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:
“It better not happen. It’s going to fall apart if you do that. That’s our best player on the team. He’s not even out there. We don’t know how the team really should look. They can’t do that. I’m a team player first. I rally around my guys. That would really hurt my spirit if he walked out this door. … I want everybody to stay. I want to win here. I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m not just a player for the Bengals. I do things in the community. A lot of guys in here do.”
Some speculation has arisen naturally given the 0-5 start. The national perspective looks at the roster and starts making sensible connections like this.
And while the Bengals are indeed in a rebuild, they don’t normally act like most other franchises on this front. Green isn’t likely to be traded for pretty much anything, barring it being 100% clear he won’t sign an extension.
There’s also the locker room factor to consider, which Kirkpatrick outlined well enough. The players hear these sorts of things and the front office hears these players, so it’s something to keep in mind next time speculation about trading Green comes up.
