Safety Jessie Bates was instrumental to the Cincinnati Bengals‘ cause last season.
He was a force in the secondary, especially during the playoffs.
Bates also intercepted a Matthew Stafford pass in Super Bowl LVI, but they still lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
Therefore, it should a no-brainer for the Bengals to give him a long-term extension.
After all, they had a massive amount of cap space coming into the offseason.
However, the Bengals assigned him the franchise tag which is worth $12.9 million for safeties.
That decision proved to be a step backward as NFL insider Dov Kleiman pointed out.
66 of the #Bengals 68 players are at team practice today.
One of the players not there is franchise tagged Safety Jesse Bates.
He reportedly has no intention to play under the franchise tag this season.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) May 17, 2022
Kleiman tweeted, “66 of the #Bengals 68 players are at team practice today. One of the players not there is franchise tagged Safety Jesse Bates. He reportedly has no intention to play under the franchise tag this season.”
Bates Wants To Be A Bengal For A Long Time
The Bengals took Bates in the second round of the 2018 draft and gave him a four-year, $4.9 million rookie contract.
However, Cincinnati doesn’t have the luxury of a fifth-year option on him because that’s reserved for first-round picks.
Therefore, they’ve given him the tag, giving them more time to finalize a contract extension.
Unfortunately, Bates won’t budge until he gets long-term financial security.
He does have the right to do so, given that he was a Second-Team All-Pro in 2020.
Besides, he wouldn’t want to leave a team that is a legitimate championship contender for years to come.
They’ve built a solid offense with Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon.
The Bengals also addressed their offensive line woes by bringing in Ted Karras, La’el Collins, and Alex Cappa.
On defense, they have Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard, and Logan Wilson.
Bates would like to contribute to a team that can win a Super Bowl but at a fair price.
Leave a Reply