The move the Bengals need to make immediately this offseason
The Cincinnati Bengals are facing a major dilemma right now that can be solved by making a bold move this offseason. Safety Jessie Bates received the franchise tag earlier this offseason, but he reportedly isn't planning to play this season on the tag. The obvious solution is to sign Bates to an extension. But that's probably […]
The Cincinnati Bengals are facing a major dilemma right now that can be solved by making a bold move this offseason.
Safety Jessie Bates received the franchise tag earlier this offseason, but he reportedly isn't planning to play this season on the tag.
The obvious solution is to sign Bates to an extension. But that's probably not going to happen. The Bengals have been trying to sign Bates to an extension since last summer and those talks have failed to progress very far. It seems extremely unlikely that Bates will be in Cincinnati long-term at this point.
Bates has been planning for his first big NFL contract since he was in college at Wake Forest.
According to The Athletic, Bates left college a year early knowing that he wouldn't be a first-round pick because he wanted to get to his second contract a year earlier. His entire career has been about maximizing his first free-agent contract (or extension).
In other words, Bates probably isn't backing down (now, whether or not he'll actually sit out and miss a $12.9 million payday is another question altogether).
And we know the Bengals aren't backing down. They're very committed to their contract process, which is why they've been able to stay out of major salary cap trouble in recent years.
The answer here is a trade. That's really the only move the Bengals have as these talks come to a standstill.
Cincinnati would obviously prefer to have Bates in the mix in 2022. But if he's not going to play on the franchise tag, then they have no choice but to trade him. Fortunately for the Bengals, they drafted Dax Hill as a potential replacement for Bates.
The Bengals need to go ahead and make this move before Bates' holdout reaches deep into training camp and Cincinnati loses any leverage.
If Cincinnati can get a second-round pick out of Bates, then it's a move they almost have to make.
The Bengals don't need to let this linger throughout the summer. They need to pick up the phone and quickly work a deal (preferably with an NFC team).
Cincinnati's offseason has been nearly perfect aside from the Bates drama. This isn't an ideal situation with Bates, but they can still make the most of it if they move quickly before the offseason really picks up.
Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
