With free agency just a few weeks away, teams are beginning to build their laundry list of which free agents they will keep and which they will let walk.
Some players obviously will take precedence over others and the Bengals are no exception.
Gil Brandt of NFL Media named one upcoming free agent for each team that they must keep. And you can probably guess without even looking who Brandt named for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Shocker of shockers, it’s safety Jessie Bates.
Bates has been a stud since the Bengals took him in the second round of the 2018 draft out of Wake Forest. Because he was a second-round pick, there was no fifth-year option available for the Bengals to pick up.
Bates stood alone as the bright spot on several lackluster rosters in the early portion of his rookie contract. And while he didn’t have the greatest 2021 season, he was a major part of Cincinnati’s run to Super Bowl LVI, logging the third-most defensive snaps on the team in the regular season and packing his postseason full of personal highlights. The 24-year-old is a face-of-the-franchise-type player, someone who should help define this competitive window for however long it remains open.
Chances are the Bengals will slap the franchise tag on Bates at a minimum but they will undoubtedly work to lock him up long term.
As a note, the safety that currently has the highest average annual value for their contract is Seahawks safety Jamal Adams at $17.5 million, followed by Vikings safety Harrison Smith ($16 million) and Broncos safety Justin Simmons ($15.25 million).
The projected franchise tags value for safeties this year is a little more than $13.5 million.
