LA Chargers sign or pass: A.J. Green

Why the Chargers should pass on A.J. Green

In the previous slide, we talked about Green missing some games in 2018. After that, he missed the entire 2019 season. While Green was very reliable early in his career, he has started to miss games.

In 2016, he missed on 1,000 receiving yards for the first time in his career, finishing the year with 964. However, that was because he only played 10 games. As remarkable as it was that he fell shy of a thousand yards by just 36 in just 10 games, this was only the beginning with his struggles with injury.

He returned in 2017 to play a full season, catching 75 passes for 1,078 yards, his lowest output since 2014 (excluding 2016), where he played just 13 games. It wasn’t a huge decline, but it wasn’t the same dominant Green people were used to seeing.

Then comes the aforementioned 2018 season, where his play improved, but injuries again stopped what could have been a special season.

The 2019 season was a frustrating one for Green and his fans. He suffered torn ligaments in his ankle in training camp, but was only projected to miss a few games. After being inactive every game of the season, with weekly speculation of when he was returning to the field and what is going on with his injury, he ended up on injured reserve.

The Chargers are one of the unluckiest teams in the league in terms of injury luck, probably only second to the Washington Redskins and their infamous medical staff that has been recently fired. Bringing a wide receiver with a recent injury history who will be 32 by the time the season starts can backfire badly.

According to Spotrac, Green’s market value is a two-year contract worth around $18 million, or $9 million dollars per year. Should the Chargers address the wide receiver position with Green, only for him to get injured and leave the Chargers right where they were before, they would have essentially shot themselves in the foot.

The Chargers are not looking for an X receiver, they are looking for a third wide receiver to complement Allen and Williams on three-wide receiver sets and bring speed to the offense. By nature, one of the main qualities the Chargers should look for in the receiver they bring in is availability, something Green won’t guarantee.

Signing Green will be a risky gamble, but it can pay off in a big way for the Chargers as they move into their new stadium. With a wide receiver draft class as deep as this year, one can sign Green and find quality insurance in the mid-rounds of the draft.

Should the Chargers sign or pass on Green?

The answer: Sign