Green prefers staying with Bengals over trade to contender

Citing the career of his mentor Larry Fitzgerald, A.J. Green hopes to end his career with the Cincinnati Bengals.

"Yeah, you always want that," the wide receiver told The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. "Nobody will ever value you more than the guys that drafted you. You want to leave a legacy. For (Fitzgerald), he is the Arizona Cardinals legend. He can do anything he wants in the state of Arizona and people are going to stay behind him."

Green has been the subject of rampant trade speculation since the beginning of the season. The 31-year-old is in the final year of his contract, while the Bengals appear to be at the beginning of an extended rebuild.

The seven-time Pro Bowler has yet to make his 2019 debut because of an ankle injury. Contending teams looking for help at wide receiver figure to target Green ahead of the trade deadline, but he prefers to follow in Fitzgerald's footsteps and spend his whole career with one team.

"It's so hard now, you see everybody that's not going well where they want a trade," Green said. "I think Larry did it the right way. That's why he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It's not just his play on the field, it's his off-field things. How he handles situations and never made any fuss. He just went out there and played his butt off. Kind of crazy a guy I look up to and now I'm in a similar situation as him. I just try to go about my business, love the game, prepare every week, and play football. That's all I'm here to do. I love the game and there's no need to make a fuss about it."

Green ranks second in Bengals history in career catches (602), touchdown receptions (63), and receiving yards (8,907). Chad Johnson sits atop the list in all three categories.