Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
One year ago, the Bengals prioritized a long-term extension for safety Jessie Bates. That never materialized, leaving both sides in a similar situation to the one they are in now. Despite the franchise tag being in place, a new deal is still the team’s goal, reports Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. 
Bates would have been one of the top safeties on the market had he reached free agency. To no one’s surprise, though, the Bengals used the franchise tag on the 25-year-old earlier this month. That opened up a negotiating window which lasts until July 15 for the two sides to agree on a new deal. If that doesn’t happen, he will earn $12.9MM in 2022.
“We obviously tried to get him re-signed last year”, said Bengals executive VP Katie Blackburn. “Thought we had a good chance of getting that done but it didn’t quite get there. I think they wanted to see where the market went in free agency and at some point, we’ll circle back with him and see where we are.”
Bates had an underwhelming regular season in 2021, recording 88 tackles and one interception. He had two picks and four pass breakups in a more true-to-form postseason, however. That could help him land a contract placing him amongst the highest-paid safeties in the league. Conway names Justin Simmons, Kevin Byard, Marcus Williams and Harrison Smith as relevant comparisons to Bates, given his skillset; that quartet currently averages $14.8MM per season.
While nothing seems imminent regarding contract talks between the two sides, this situation will certainly be one to follow throughout the spring.
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Atlanta Falcons
Cincinnati Bengals
New York Giants
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Here are the latest details from contracts recently agreed to across the league, starting with the Bills’ big-ticket deal for a future Hall of Fame edge rusher:
Here are today’s minor moves around the NFL:
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Kansas City Chiefs
Minnesota Vikings
Pittsburgh Steelers
Jarran Reed is set to play for a third team in three seasons. The former Seahawks and Chiefs defensive lineman is signing with the Packers, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The Bengals also met with Reed recently, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com adds, but he will head to Wisconsin.
The six-year veteran visited the Packers on Tuesday and will join a defensive line also housing Kenny Clark. This marked the third straight offseason in which Reed hit free agency. The Seahawks locked him up on a short-term deal in 2020, but that relationship quickly deteriorated and has led to a nomadic journey for the talented interior D-lineman.
Seattle gave Reed a longer-term deal, but an unusual development led to his exit. Reed refused to restructure his two-year, $23MM pact in 2021, leading to the Seahawks cutting him. The Chiefs gave Reed a one-year, $5.5MM deal and used him as a 17-game starter.
A former second-round pick out of Alabama, Reed zoomed onto the extension radar after a 10.5-sack 2018 season. A six-game suspension stalled Reed’s momentum in 2019, when he finished with just two sacks. He recorded 6.5 in 2020 and 2.5 last season, adding two forced fumbles and 12 QB hits during his one Chiefs campaign. Reed has also tallied three postseason sacks over the past two seasons.
Reed, 29, has been a highly durable player throughout his career. Excepting the suspension-induced hiatus, he has never missed more than one game in a season. The Packers will look to Reed as a supporting-caster, with Clark, Rashan Gary and Preston Smith set to spearhead their pass rush post-Za’Darius Smith. This will be Reed’s first run in a 3-4 defense, though these transitions have become less notable given the increased usages of sub-packages.
Since trading Davante Adams to the Raiders, the Packers have used some of the freed-up funds to address other areas. They have since signed Reed and reached agreements to bring back Rasul Douglas and Robert Tonyan.
Today’s minor NFL transactions:
Buffalo Bills
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Miami Dolphins
Tennessee Titans
MARCH 21: The Bengals waited a while, but they have made the Waynes move. This cut will add more than $10MM to Cincinnati’s cap space. Waynes did not play any defensive snaps during the team’s four playoff games, wrapping a disappointing run for the ex-Vikings first-rounder in Cincinnati.
This transaction stands to bump the AFC champions’ cap space north of $23MM. The Bengals brought back Eli Apple, keeping their top three corners from 2021 — Apple, Awuzie and Hilton — together. Unfortunately, Waynes could not avoid more injury trouble, which ended up defining his Bengals tenure.
FEB. 27: This is hardly a surprise, but the Bengals are expected to cut cornerback Trae Waynes, per Jay Morrison of The Athletic (subscription required). Waynes signed a three-year, $42MM contract with Cincinnati in March 2020, and in Morrison’s estimation, he is the biggest free agency bust in club history.
It would be difficult to quibble with that assessment. Waynes missed the entire 2020 season with a pectoral injury, and he ultimately played in just five regular season games in 2021 due to a hamstring ailment. Although he appeared in all four of the Bengals’ postseason contests, he saw just 13 total snaps, and all of them came on special teams.
The reigning AFC champs are in a pretty good place in terms of the salary cap. As Morrison writes in a separate piece (subscription required), Cincinnati should have upwards of $70MM in cap space this offseason, including the $10.9MM the club will realize from the Waynes release. Of course, a good chunk of that money is likely to be invested in an offensive line that yielded a whopping 70 sacks throughout the regular season and playoffs.
But some of it will need to be reinvested into the secondary as well. In addition to a franchise tag or extension for safety Jessie Bates, the Bengals will need to sign a No. 2 corner. Indeed, other than Waynes, Chidobe Awuzie and Mike Hilton, no cornerback who played a snap in 2021 is under contract for 2022.
For his part, Waynes will likely need to settle for a veteran minimum deal somewhere. His contract with the Bengals was inflated due to the premium that teams often have to pay for cornerbacks in free agency, as his 3+ years as a starter with the Vikings were solid enough, but never spectacular. Couple that with his recent injury history, and it stands to reason that he will be looking for a prove-it contract in 2022.
Cincinnati’s effort to re-make their offensive line isn’t finished yet. According to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network, the team is “finalizing an agreement” with tackle La’el Collins (Twitter link). Jeff Howe and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic report that the contract is a three-year deal.
Collins was scheduled for another free agent visit elsewhere, Garafolo notes, but the Bengals are getting him signed before he could leave their building. The former Cowboy is set to become the third starting-caliber addition to their offensive line, as Cincinnati has already brought in Ted Karras and Alex Cappa.
The 28-year-old was released by Dallas last week, as they undergo some noteworthy changes to their own o-line. Not long after learning he would need to find a new NFL home for the first time in his six-year career, Collins met with the Bengals. While they didn’t immediately come to a new deal – leaving the Dolphins potentially in the mix to add him – they seem to have done so now.
A former UDFA, Collins began his time in Dallas as a guard, but is most well-known as the team’s starting right tackle. He saw steady improvement during his time as a Cowboy, earning higher PFF grades with each passing season. In 2021, he continued that trend by registering a mark of 82, despite having not played the previous campaign.
With Collins in the fold, the Bengals have continued to bolster the unit charged with protecting quarterback Joe Burrow. After ranking among the worst teams in terms of sacks allowed – and seeing each of Burrow’s two seasons in the league end with serious knee injuries – the Bengals made it clear they were going to be aggressive in pursuing upgrades. That has certainly been the case so far.
Collins will likely man his familiar right tackle spot, creating a bookend with former first-rounder Jonah Williams. Those two, along with Karras and Cappa, should represent a marked improvement in what was seen as the teams’ weakest position group. The news could send 2020 sixth round pick Hakeem Adeniji inside to guard, or leave him as depth at the RT spot.
La’el Collins‘ Bengals visit concluded without the well-regarded right tackle signing, but the defending AFC champions remain interested, per Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter links).
The Dolphins are monitoring this situation as well, though it is unclear how serious they are about adding the longtime Cowboys blocker. The Dolphins, per USA Today’s Tyler Dragon (on Twitter), join the Bengals in making a strong push for Collins. No Dolphins visit is scheduled, however, with Jackson adding the AFC East squad appears to be looking through other options.
Connor Williams is Miami-bound, likely set to fill one of the Dolphins’ first-string guard spots. While Collins began his NFL career as a guard, he was working at tackle by the time Williams’ career began. The Dolphins moved 2020 right tackle Robert Hunt to guard last season, leaving them with a bit of a need on the right edge.
Although Joe Burrow‘s sack total became a regular talking point as the season progressed, Pro Football Focus graded Miami’s line as the NFL’s worst last season. Cincinnati and Miami reside within a few hundred thousand dollars of each other in cap space, per OverTheCap, with each holding just more than $16MM in available funds.
The Bengals moved quickly to add two interior O-linemen — Alex Cappa and ex-Dolphin Ted Karras — but Collins would be a bigger coup for the O-line-needy team. Collins, 28, was also linked to the Patriots, who may be set to lose their right tackle in free agency. Trent Brown visited the Seahawks but remains unsigned.