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.

After a substandard regular season, Jessie Bates delivered for the Bengals in the playoffs. The four-year veteran stands to be one of this year’s top free agents. But the Bengals are not expected to let the standout safety get that far.

Cincinnati is expected to keep Bates off the market. While the sides still have nearly two weeks to work out a long-term extension before the franchise tag window closes, the Bengals would have nearly five more months to finalize a deal if they applied the tag.

“Hopefully I’m not under a franchise tag. That’s something that needs to be discussed as NFLPA a little bit,” Bates said during an NFL Network appearance (via NFL.com). “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.”

The safety tag is expected to come in just north of $13MM. Being tagged would prevent the former second-round pick from parlaying his strong playoff performance into a monster safety pact. That said, the Wake Forest alum is two days from his 25th birthday. The Broncos tagged Justin Simmons in each of the past two offseasons but still wound up with a market-setting deal. Simmons became the NFL’s highest-paid safety when he signed an extension last year, at age 27. Bates should still have a chance to cash in, even if he plays the 2022 season on the tag.

Jamal Adams‘ four-year, $70MM extension is the current bar, but Bates said he is not overly concerned with “the ego part of being the highest-paid safety.” Still, Bates accepting a deal that paid him less than Simmons’ $15.25MM-per-year accord is unlikely.

Although Bates expressed disappointment in the Bengals not extending him ahead of last season, he would prefer to remain with the franchise. Bates graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 overall safety in 2020. While he slipped in 2021, Bates helped the Bengals make a surprise Super Bowl run by logging six pass breakups and two interceptions in the playoffs.

“I know what type of men are in that locker room, along with the guys that are leading us. We have awesome coaches. I look forward to being a Cincinnati Bengal, but we’ll see what happens,” Bates said, while also noting Cincinnati’s proximity to his hometown (Fort Wayne, Ind.) factors into his aim to remain a Bengal.

While much of the offseason focus for the Bengals will revolve around upgrading the team’s offensive line, they have an important piece of business to take care of with one of their best defenders. Safety Jessie Bates is a pending unrestricted free agent, though Jay Morrison of The Athletic writes that other teams shouldn’t be counting on him reaching the open market. 

Bates, 24, will see his rookie contract expire next month, which would make him a free agent. However, as Morrison states, “that will not happen”. The Bengals’ options are to sign him to a long-term deal or, at a minimum, apply the franchise tag to keep him on the team through 2022 and buy time to negotiate a new pact. If Bates were to play on the tag, it would come with a value of around $13MM.

Things didn’t go smoothly last offseason when the former second rounder wanted a big contract. Talks between the sides stalled, leaving both sides where they are now. Before the 2021 season started, Bates said, “I guess I haven’t done enough yet to be considered one of the top safeties in the league, which is fine”. His play leading up to that point certainly warranted consideration that he could reset the safety market, as he registered at least 100 tackles and exactly three interceptions in each of his first three campaigns.

Bates had a down year in 2021 compared to the standards he had set previously. In 15 games, he totalled 88 tackles, one interception and four passes defensed . More worryingly, he gave up a career-worst 122 passer rating in coverage, which contributed to a 56.2 PFF grade – a stark contrast to the position-leading grade he received in 2020. On the other hand, he did record six pass breakups and two interceptions (including one in the Super Bowl) during the Bengals’ playoff run.

Newly-extended head coach Zac Taylor expressed a desire to keep Bates in the fold, saying in part, “he’s a big part of what we do. We’re really proud of how he’s led this team and how he’s played for us, really over the last four years… I think everyone knows we want Jessie to be a part of this”. If the two sides are able to hammer out a new deal, one of the biggest pieces to the Bengals’ roster would be in place to help keep the team in Super Bowl contention.

After Jessie Bates expressed hope he would land a Bengals extension before the season, a report surfaced indicating the contract-year safety might have to play out his rookie deal.

Nearly a month away from Cincinnati’s season opener, Bates is set to earn $2.4MM in base salary. The talented safety’s comments on this situation may or may not indicate a certain level of annoyance, but time does remain for the sides to regroup and hammer out an agreement.

“I think as far as my contract goes, I guess I haven’t done enough yet to be considered one of the top safeties in this league, which is fine,” Bates said during an interview with the Bengals radio announcers Dan Hoard and Dave Lapham (via WKRC). “That’s fine with me. I’m going to go to work just like any other day, my first three years being here.

“Just being able to have that open conversation with my agent has been great in regards to just having the conversation, very open. I think this will probably be the last time that I speak on the contract just because I think it can get a little messy as far as thinking about it too much.”

No Pro Bowl invites have come Bates’ way yet, but the 2018 second-round pick is coming off a season in which Pro Football Focus graded him as the league’s top safety. The Wake Forest product is 3-for-3 in 100-plus-tackle seasons and has intercepted three passes in each of his three pro years. This has not resulted in Bengals defensive success, with the team ranking near the bottom throughout Bates’ tenure, but the 24-year-old defender has largely done his part. He has started all 48 of the Bengals’ games over the past three seasons.

Bates would be a surefire franchise tag candidate, should the Bengals let this play out to that point. They did so with Carl Lawson and William Jackson, letting the defenders finish their rookie deals and leave in free agency. Cincinnati’s current defense features a number of free agency additions; Bates represents a homegrown talent who is poised to land a top-market contract. It will be interesting to see how the team proceeds here.

One of the NFL’s best young safeties, Jessie Bates is going into a contract year. The former second-round pick expressed interest in signing a Bengals extension earlier this summer, but the sides are not currently on track to hammer one out.

Bates and the Bengals are not progressing on a deal, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler (on Twitter), who adds the sides are not expected to reach an agreement at this time. While four weeks remain until the regular season begins, this situation has become one to monitor.

The Bengals have used their training camp and preseason stretches to reach extension agreements with core players in recent years — from A.J. Green to Carlos Dunlap to Geno Atkins to Joe Mixon. The team just extended defensive end Sam Hubbard, who joined Bates as a 2018 draftee. Bates certainly profiles as a fellow extension candidate and can aim for a deal north of $14MM annually. Jamal Adams is poised to reset the safety market; others at the position will be observing what his Seahawks talks produce.

The 24-year-old defender changed agents in 2020, preparing for negotiations once he became eligible for a new deal after his third season. Bates is coming off a strong third season, one that put him on the radar for a possible top-market safety pact. Pro Football Focus rated the Wake Forest product No. 1 overall at the safety position in 2020, when Bates intercepted three passes and eclipsed the 100-tackle barrier for the third straight season.

Cincinnati would have the franchise tag to place on Bates in 2022, should these talks fail to produce a deal. The Jets and Saints took this route with safeties Marcus Maye and Marcus Williams, respectively, this year. The Bengals balked at tagging defenders William Jackson or Carl Lawson this year, moving instead to let them walk and replace them in free agency. It would surprise if the team allowed Bates to test the market next year, but he remains attached to his rookie contract without much momentum to change that arrangement at this point.

While the Bengals’ defense has struggled in recent years, one of their safeties emerged as a high-level performer in that span. Jessie Bates is on the cusp of a major payday, and the fourth-year defender would prefer it come from the Bengals.

Pro Football Focus’ top-graded safety in 2020, Bates is just 24 — nearly four years younger than Justin Simmons, who just signed a safety-record contract. It took the Broncos safety two franchise tags to secure that four-year, $61MM deal, but Bates should be in position to follow suit with a big-ticket extension — perhaps in the next several weeks.

“Obviously, I feel like I’m a core piece in Cincinnati. My family is three hours away, so I would love to be here,” Bates said, via Laurel Pfahler of the Dayton Daily News. “My main goal is to take that next level that I keep saying as a leader on this team. The money part of it will come. I just want to win.

“Any time it’s a new contract extension or anything, you get very excited, but like I said, I made a change with my agent last year for this reason. I think a lot of guys focus too much on it, but I feel very comfortable with the change that I made. He knows what he’s doing. It’s not his first time doing it.”

A little over a year ago, Bates hired David Mulugheta of Athletes First. Bates then had his best season as a pro, recording a career-high 15 passes defensed. He is now going into a contract year.

The former second-round pick has proven consistent since the Bengals took him 54th overall three years ago. The Fort Wayne, Ind., product has intercepted three passes in each of his three seasons and posted 100-plus tackles in all three. With six safeties signed to deals averaging more than $14MM per year, Bates can comfortably push to join them.

The Bengals have done a host of late-summer extensions in recent years, pointing to a window for Bates. Tyler Boyd signed his extension in July 2019, while Joe Mixon signed his in early September of last year. The Bengals gave recently departed stars A.J. Green, Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap big-money re-ups just ahead of the 2015 and ’18 seasons, respectively. The franchise also has a rookie-quarterback contract around which to build now.

Bengals free safety Jessie Bates III has changed representation and hired David Mulugheta of Athletes First, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Mulugheta counts Earl Thomas, Landon Collins, and other elite safeties among his clients. Bates, 23, could be in line for a big payday of his own someday. 

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The former second-round pick has two years left on his inexpensive rookie deal, but he’s already looking ahead to his next contract. Bates has started in every possible game over the past two seasons, racking up 211 tackles and six interceptions along the way. After celebrating his 23rd birthday in February, he could be poised for another major leap forward in 2020.

For now, Bates is set to earn $930 in base salary this year and slightly more in 2021 with cap hits of $1.3MM and $1.6MM, respectively. That’s an exceptional bargain for a high level free safety who is barely above the legal drinking age. The Bengals haven’t engaged in extension talks just yet, but it’ll be at the top of their agenda next spring.

In the interest of equal time: the advanced metrics weren’t all that high on Bates last year. But, as a rookie in 2018, he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 11 ranked safety in the NFL.

In other Bengals news, the club is hoping to extend running back Joe Mixon. Mixon is coming off back-to-back 1,100-yard seasons and entering the final year of his rookie deal.