Green declines Caps' qualifying offer

Restricted free agent defenseman Mike Green turned down the Washington Capitals' qualifying offer of a one-year contract worth $5 million on Sunday, multiple media outlets reported.

The deadline to accept the deal was 5 p.m. Sunday, but Green and the Caps are expected to continue to negotiate.

Caps general manager George McPhee told the Washington Post on Saturday the expiration date on qualifying offers as an "artificial deadline."

Injuries limited Green to 32 games in 2011-12, when he had three goals and four assists for Washington.

It's unclear whether the Caps' other restricted free agent, John Carlson, accepted his qualifying offer of one-year, $826,875.