Bengals: Sam Hubbard wants to play with Jessie Bates long-term

After signing his extension over the weekend, Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard spoke to the media on the Bengals’ first official day of training camp. It was noticeable that he was repping teammate Jessie Bates’ charity and was promptly asked why that was.

Hubbard’s response:

"Jessie’s a close friend and someone I want to play with for a long time."

This is great news for Bengals fans, as it’ll hopefully get the ball rolling on a potential extension for Bates. Extending Bates has been a topic spanning throughout the entire offseason and it’s yet to happen yet though at least Hubbard got taken care of.

Sam Hubbard wants Jessie Bates to stay with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Hubbard is one of the faces of the franchise, especially on the defensive side of the ball so it’s awesome to see that he wants the other key face on defense to get his extension worked out too. Both guys joined the Bengals in the 2018 NFL Draft with Bates getting selected in the second round and Hubbard hearing his name called in the third round.

While the Bengals’ first-round pick that year hasn’t gone on to do much, these two have made up for that atrocious pick of Billy Price.

If Bates’ own teammate is wanting to see an extension get done, hopefully, this will light a fire under the Bengals’ front office to get something worked out. The Bengals are slowly but surely rebuilding their defense and right now, these two guys are playing key roles in that.

If a deal doesn’t get done with Bates before the season begins, he’ll hit free agency as soon as the 2021 season concludes in February. That would not be ideal for Cincinnati and that’s why Hubbard’s comments are so important.

An extension for Hubbard was the first step in keeping this defense on the right path and extending Bates is the next step that needs to be made. Let’s get it done, Bengals!