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- The Lucha Lowdown (Season 4, Episode 18)
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- The Burgundy Breakdown
- Bucs Win in Overtime
- Total Diva Fallout (Episodes 8.04 and 8.05)
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- A Much Needed Change
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- The 2nd Mae Young Classic Quarterfinals Preview
- Sean McDermott’s Head Coaching Tenure Is Becoming Worrisome
- 3 Impacts From Impact (Bound For Glory Edition)
- Tomahawks and Touchdowns: Week #7 Preview
- The Lucha Lowdown (Season 4, Episode 19)
- Goin’ to Work: Opening Night Takeaways For The Detroit Pistons
A.J. Gets His Green
- Updated: September 12, 2015

Earlier this week, the Bengals became the latest team to do a long-term deal with a player entering the final year of his contract. The full details of A.J. Green’s four-year $60 million extension that has a total monetary value of $70.176 million over five years appears below.
1. Green receives a $15 million roster bonus, with all money paid out by January 31, 2016.
2. Green has a base salary of $11.75 million in 2015, which is as a practical matter guaranteed.
3. Green receives a $6 million roster bonus if on the active roster as of the third day of the 2016 league year. The payment is not guaranteed.
4. Green has a base salary of $3.8 million in 2016.
5. Green has a base salary of $10.3 million in 2017.
6. Green has a base salary of $10.55 million in 2018.
7. Green has a base salary of $11.976 million in 2019.
8. Green is eligible for a $200,000 workout bonus in 2016 through 2019.
Green makes $26.75 million this year, and he will have earned $32.75 million by March. While next year’s pay isn’t guaranteed, he’ll walk away with $26.75 million if they cut him after this season — which means they won’t.
He makes $35.95 million over two years and $46.45 million over three.
The cap numbers are $14.75 million in 2015, $13 million in 2016, $13.5 million in 2017, $13.75 million in 2018, and $15.176 million in 2019.
The deal has a new-money average of $15 million, and a total value average of $14.03 million. It gets Green back to the market a year earlier that Falcons receiver Julio Jones, who signed a five-year extension.
The new-money average exceeds Jones by $750,000 per year, and the total value surpasses the five-year, $14 million deals done by both Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas in July. Both had played five years and were working under the franchise tag. Green has only four years of service.
Let’s take a moment to compare the top 20 receivers from the 2014 season.
Rk | Player | Team | Pos | Rec | Yds | Avg | Yds/G | Lng | TD | 20+ | 40+ | 1st | 1st% | FUM |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Antonio Brown | PIT | WR | 129 | 1,698 | 13.2 | 106.1 | 63T | 13 | 19 | 4 | 85 | 65.9 | 1 |
2 | Demaryius Thomas | DEN | WR | 111 | 1,619 | 14.6 | 101.2 | 86T | 11 | 25 | 6 | 69 | 62.2 | 0 |
3 | Julio Jones | ATL | WR | 104 | 1,593 | 15.3 | 106.2 | 79 | 6 | 31 | 3 | 76 | 73.1 | 2 |
4 | Jordy Nelson | GB | WR | 98 | 1,519 | 15.5 | 94.9 | 80T | 13 | 19 | 8 | 71 | 72.4 | 0 |
5 | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | WR | 101 | 1,404 | 13.9 | 87.8 | 48 | 9 | 24 | 4 | 69 | 68.3 | 1 |
6 | T.Y. Hilton | IND | WR | 82 | 1,345 | 16.4 | 89.7 | 73T | 7 | 21 | 6 | 62 | 75.6 | 3 |
7 | Golden Tate | DET | WR | 99 | 1,331 | 13.4 | 83.2 | 73T | 4 | 17 | 5 | 58 | 58.6 | 1 |
8 | Dez Bryant | DAL | WR | 88 | 1,320 | 15.0 | 82.5 | 68T | 16 | 22 | 5 | 60 | 68.2 | 0 |
9 | Jeremy Maclin | PHI | WR | 85 | 1,318 | 15.5 | 82.4 | 72 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 56 | 65.9 | 0 |
10 | Odell Beckham | NYG | WR | 91 | 1,305 | 14.3 | 108.8 | 80T | 12 | 16 | 6 | 57 | 62.6 | 0 |
11 | Randall Cobb | GB | WR | 91 | 1,287 | 14.1 | 80.4 | 70T | 12 | 24 | 3 | 71 | 78.0 | 1 |
12 | DeAndre Hopkins | HOU | WR | 76 | 1,210 | 15.9 | 75.6 | 76T | 6 | 20 | 6 | 57 | 75.0 | 2 |
13 | DeSean Jackson | WAS | WR | 56 | 1,169 | 20.9 | 77.9 | 81T | 6 | 16 | 13 | 35 | 62.5 | 0 |
14 | Alshon Jeffery | CHI | WR | 85 | 1,133 | 13.3 | 70.8 | 74 | 10 | 17 | 3 | 60 | 70.6 | 0 |
15 | Rob Gronkowski | NE | TE | 82 | 1,124 | 13.7 | 74.9 | 46T | 12 | 19 | 1 | 60 | 73.2 | 0 |
16 | Calvin Johnson | DET | WR | 71 | 1,077 | 15.2 | 82.8 | 67T | 8 | 16 | 3 | 59 | 83.1 | 0 |
17 | Steve Smith | BAL | WR | 79 | 1,065 | 13.5 | 66.6 | 80T | 6 | 15 | 5 | 45 | 57.0 | 2 |
18 | Anquan Boldin | SF | WR | 83 | 1,062 | 12.8 | 66.4 | 76T | 5 | 14 | 1 | 56 | 67.5 | 0 |
19 | Mike Evans | TB | WR | 68 | 1,051 | 15.5 | 70.1 | 56T | 12 | 20 | 4 | 46 | 67.6 | 0 |
20 | A.J. Green | CIN | WR | 69 | 1,041 | 15.1 | 80.1 | 81T | 6 | 13 | 3 | 46 | 66.7 | 2 |
Parts of this article by Mike Florio