The Cincinnati Bengals have never been gunshy when talking about how much they want safety Jessie Bates back in the fold.
Speaking with reporters at the scouting combine on Tuesday, director of player personnel Duke Tobin hit on similar themes when talking about whether Bates will ultimately get an extension or hit with the franchise tag.
Tobin told reporters the Bengals will have a decision over the next few days. They’re not ready to announce whether they’ll use the franchise tag, but he did stress that Bates is an important part of the program and they want him back.
Teams have until March 8 to apply tags to players.
Bates remains priority No. 1:
Duke elaborating on Bates: We want him back. He’s a success story for all of us in personnel . Getting him back is front and center for us.
— Geoff Hobson (@GeoffHobsonCin) March 1, 2022
Bates himself recently created a Twitter firestorm with tweets that seemed to hint about an update here. Big Bengals names like Logan Wilson and Mike Hilton have publically lobbied for Bates to get his extension.
