Coronavirus pandemic could prevent Bengals from signing A.J. Green to a long-term extension

COVID-19 makes an already complex A.J. Green extension even more complicated

The Bengals are hoping A.J. Green stays in Cincinnati for the rest of his career. 

They didn't even consider trading him last fall because he remained in their long-term plans. They placed the franchise tag on him this offseason. They are happy to pay him $17.9 million in 2020 to catch passes from Joe Burrow. 

Team President Mike Brown and the rest of the front office is hoping to keep Green in stripes beyond this season, but the coronavirus pandemic could prevent that from happening. 

The NFL salary cap could drop anywhere from $30-80 million due to COVID-19. Even if the league has games this fall — which they are reportedly optimistic about — playing without fans would cost them over $3 billion in revenue. 

A loss of that magnitude would drastically change the strategy of all 32 NFL teams. Brown and the Bengals have no idea what things could look like eight months from now. 

Why would they sign Green to a three-year, $57 million extension if the salary cap is going to be 30 percent less than originally anticipated? 

The 2020 NFL salary cap is $198.2 million, which is an all-time high. Spending less than 10 percent of it on a seven-time Pro Bowler makes sense. If the cap drops to $140 million for the 2021 season, spending $19 million on Green feels and looks much different.

It's one of the many unknowns surrounding all 32 NFL teams. It's one of the many ways COVID-19 has prevented the league from conducting business as usual. There are plenty of quality free agents still available, including Cam Newton, Jadeveon Clowney, Larry Warford, Darqueze Dennard, Everson Griffin and Dre Kirkpatrick.

Teams can't bring these guys in for physicals and even if they could — they have no idea what the salary cap is going to look like in 2021. 

 The Bengals are projected to have over $80 million in cap space next season. 

That would give them plenty of money to sign Green, Joe Mixon and William Jackson III to long-term contracts before the start of the 2021 season. Unfortunately, they have no idea what the cap will be, which makes it harder to sign anyone. 

Agreeing to an extension with Green was always going to be complicated. He's turning 32 next month and has missed 29 of a possible 64 games over the past four years due to injury. 

The Bengals committed nearly $130 million in free agency this offseason hoping to rebuild a team that went the playoffs in five straight seasons from 2011-15. Their moves were based on keeping Green around long-term. 

They could still get a deal done, but a long-term deal appears less and less likely by the day. 

The Bengals have until July 15 to sign Green to an extension. If they can't reach an agreement, he'll play on a one-year, $17.9 million contract and have a chance to become a free agent next offseason.