Jessie Bates will soon be a free agent. That could be avoided if, by March 8, the Cincinnati Bengals apply the franchise tag to him. That idea, though, doesn’t excite Bates.
Speaking on NFL Now on Wednesday, Bates made it known that the franchise tag is not appealing to him.
“That’s a conversation I think that we’ll have with my agency and my team,” he said, per Adam Maya, NFL.com. “I put a lot of trust in them with this whole process. I’m just trying to stay focused, control what I can. We’ll see. Hopefully, I’m not under a franchise tag. That’s something that needs to be discussed as NFLPA a little bit. Some of the top guys got hurt under a franchise tag. It’s tough; you only get one shot at this. You just got to play your cards right, I guess you could say.”
Maya estimated that the franchise tag for Bates would be worth $13.5 million.
Bates is correct. While a franchise tag is a good one-year deal financially, it’s a risk, especially in a physical sport like football. Playing under the franchise tag in 2021, Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Chris Godwin tore his ACL and sprained his MCL in December. While there is reported interest in Godwin, his situation is far less stable than it would have been before his injury. Seeing that and other similar situations, it’s easy to understand why Bates wants to make this deal count.
Bates isn’t the only star defensive back looking for long-term stability. New England Patriots star cornerback, J.C. Jackson, is also looking to get paid this offseason. Like Bates, the franchise tag is a distinct possibility. There is one key difference, though. Jackson has said that the Patriots haven’t shown him that they have a lot of interest. That doesn’t apply to Bates and the Bengals.
Shortly after Cincinnati’s Super Bowl loss, coach Zac Taylor said of keeping Bates: “Those are conversations that will always be ongoing. I think everyone knows we want Jessie to be a part of this. We’ll just continue to work through those discussions.” (Nick Shook, NFL.com)
So, there’s interest on both sides. With mutual interest, it’s plausible that a long-term deal can be reached. The Bengals are coming off of an AFC Championship season. There’s no reason they’d want to break things up. Cincinnati also has a lot of cap space.
Furthermore, while Bates was quoted by Paya as saying “I do know value over cost,” he also said “I’m not too worried about the ego part of being the highest-paid safety.” Bates will no doubt ask for a lot of money to reflect his status as one of the game’s been safeties. But it doesn’t seem as though he’ll head to the bargaining table with unreasonable demands.
Bates has 20 career interceptions in four NFL seasons. During Cincinnati’s postseason run, he intercepted two passes and was in on 20 tackles. Given the stated interest from both parties, it feels likely that Bates will be back with the Bengals in 2022. But if he does go to another team, it will be a major loss for the Bengals and a huge gain for another franchise.
[NFL.com]
