Getty A.J. Green
If former New England Patriots player Marquis Flowers has his way, A.J. Green will be playing Foxborough in 2022. The Patriots seem to always need a wide receiver and the big names are often linked to them during free agency and trade speculation.
Marquis Flowers Wants His Friend AJ Green to Sign with the Patriots
Flowers, who was teammates with Green with the Cincinnati Bengals from 2014-16 spent the 2017 season with the Patriots. He played for the Detroit Lions in 2018 before retiring from football.
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Flowers and Green seem to have established a friendship during their time with the Bengals, and it appears the former enjoyed his one season with the Patriots. Flowers would like to link his old teammate with the Patriots.
Flowers tweeted this on January 5:
True story! I DM’d AJ Green and told him to go to the New England Patriots but then Tommy Ice left 🤷🏾♂️…….I tried!…but now that Mac 10 certified 👀 it might be time to 🗣🗣🗣🗣 again this off-season
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Flowers says he sent a direct message to Green telling him to sign with the Patriots last season before Tom Brady bolted for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Green wound up signing with the Arizona Cardinals on a one-year $6 million deal.
Flowers likes what he sees from a “certified” Mac Jones, and he’s back to endorsing a Green-Patriots alignment. If Green can stay as healthy and productive as he’s been in 2021 next season, the Patriots would be fools not to strongly consider Flowers’ overtures.
Green Has Had a Resurgence in Arizona
The 2018 and 2019 seasons were marred by injuries for Green. He played in just nine games in 2018 and missed the entire 2019 campaign with a bad ankle. He played all 16 games in 2020, but struggled to be included in the offense with new stars like Joe Burrow, Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins getting most of the attention.
Green finished tied for third in receptions for the Bengals in 2020 with just 47. It was his lowest reception total in any season in which he’s played at least 10 games. In 2021 with the Cardinals, Green already has 50 receptions for 825 yards and 3 TDs. Those aren’t the same kinds of numbers he produced from 2011-17 when he averaged 79 receptions, 1,173 yards and 8 TDs per season. Still, he has been an absolute bargain for the Cardinals who have desperately needed his production while star WR DeAndre Hopkins has battled injuries most of the season.
With the Cardinals, Green is third in receptions behind Christian Kirk and rookie Rondale Moore. With Hopkins hopefully returning to full strength in 2022 and the 25-year-old Kirk also headed for free agency, there is a chance the Cardinals might not be willing to match a solid offer for Green.
With Green turning 34 during the offseason, there is a chance he could be signing the final contract of his career. A two-year deal worth $18-$20 million could be a winner for the Patriots, and it could spell the end of the N’Keal Harry experiment.
Green has the length and hands to be the sort of downfield threat and red zone target that the Patriots hoped Harry would develop into by this point in his career.
The Patriots haven’t had much luck finding the right receivers over the past 10 years, but perhaps Flowers is on to something with this concept.
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