Calvin Johnson, the man many considered the owner of that title, retired in March at the relatively young age of 30, opening the debate of who is the best active receiver in the league.
Asked on the eve of his sixth training camp who he thinks is the best, Green told reporters, “I’ll let you all debate that one.”
Is there a group of five?
“Of course there’s a group of five, and I’m in that five,” Green said while including Atlanta’s Julio Jones, Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins and the New York Giants’ Odell Beckham Jr. in the elite group.
Who’s the best?
“I’m the best,” Green said with a laugh. “There are a lot of good receivers out there. The way the league is set up now, there are a bunch of receivers who are going to get targeted (so much).”
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Of the five players he mentioned, Green ranked a distant fifth in targets last year with 132, behind Jones (203), Brown (193), Hopkins (192) and Beckham Jr. (158).
“We’re not built like that,” Green said. “We’re not built like Pittsburgh. We’re not built like Atlanta, where you always have to throw the ball. We’re balanced. I’ve been in offenses like that my whole career.”
One of two players to record at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first five seasons (Randy Moss did it in his first six), Green ranks fourth among active receivers in receiving yards per game with 81.4.
Green, who turns 28 on Sunday, was one of the few people not surprised by Johnson’s retirement. The two have spent their summers working out together since Green came into the league, and he said Johnson told him a couple of years ago he only had two or three years left in him.
But Green said he doesn’t see himself walking away from the game in similarly early fashion.
“He’s a big guy. His body takes a lot of pounding,” Green said. “I feel like I’m more of a slim guy (210 pounds). My knees don’t have much wear and tear. He used to take big hits, cheap shots. The way he hit the ground all the time, that’s a big body at 230 slamming down. I think my body is set up differently. I’ll be fine. I want to get at least 12 (seasons).”
Green’s current contract, a four-year, $60 million deal signed last September, runs through 2019.
“My goal is 12 to 15 (years),” Green said. “We’ll see. I’ll be 31 (when the current contract ends), so I think I can go three or four more years after that.”
Pittsburgh playback: Green said he's never watched the replay of last year's 18-16 playoff loss to Pittsburgh, and probably never will.
But cornerback Adam Jones said he’s viewed it start to end about 10 times.
“We kicked their ass the whole game, that’s all I can say,” Jones said. “And it hurt me to my heart that we let it go like that.”
It hurt Green, too, which is why he can’t bring himself to watch it.
“I will never forget about it,” Green said. “Probably because that was the highlight of my career to the worst part of my career. That fast. High. Low. It was my first playoff touchdown. Big moment. I finally arrived. Stepping up in a playoff game.”
Green said he watched the team’s previous playoff losses, but “this one was different.”
Burfict hurt: The Bengals added linebacker Vontaze Burfict to the Active/Non-Football Injury list on Thursday, which means he reported to camp with with an injury suffered outside of organized team activities.
Burfict joins linebacker Rey Maualuga on the NFL list, while tight end Tyler Eifert (ankle), wide receiver James Wright (knee) and defensive tackle Brandon Thompson (knee) are on the Active/Physically Unable to Perform list.
Both lists require the players to count against the 90-man roster limit, and in each case the player can begin practicing as soon as he is medically cleared.
Safety signed: The Bengals added veteran safety Jimmy Wilson. A sixth-year player out of Montana, Wilson was a seventh-round pick of Miami in 2011. He played four seasons with the Dolphins, starting 20 games while current Bengals defensive backs coach Kevin Coyle was the defensive coordinator.
Wilson was with San Diego last year, playing 13 games with six starts. He had 44 tackles, an interception, a sack and a fumble recovery, which came in Week 2 against the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium.
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