The Cincinnati Bengals reportedly won’t be agreeing to a contract extension with safety Jessie Bates, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
Fowler tweeted on Tuesday afternoon that “Sides not progressing toward a deal.” and this isn’t good news for Bengals fans, who were hoping to see Bates get rewarded with a well-deserved contract extension.
Now, however, it appears that won’t be happening, and it’s unfortunate.
The #Bengals and safety Jesse Bates III are not expected to reach a contract extension at this time, per source. Sides not progressing toward a deal. Bates, a 2022 free agent, is a major player coming off three interceptions, 15 pass breakups a year ago.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) August 10, 2021
Cincinnati Bengals won’t sign Jessie Bates to an extension
As Fowler noted, Bates is slated to hit free agency following the 2021 season and this is why an extension needed to get done sooner rather than later. The Bengals showed they’re not against locking up key players, as they extended defensive end Sam Hubbard several weeks ago.
Hubbard even said he wanted Bates to get his extension too, stating that he wants to play with Bates for a long-time. Bates’ teammates want him to stay in Cincinnati and this is not a great situation or a good look for the Bengals organization, especially since Bates himself has wanted an extension to get figured out.
Bates, a former second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, has been one of the Bengals’ best players since joining the team three years ago. While it hasn’t led to All-Pros or Pro Bowls, Bates has made his time on the field count and has easily been the star on the defensive side of the ball.
Maybe the holdup on the extension has to do with the safety position not being one of the more important positions on the field or maybe there’s a disagreement on how much money and/or how many years should be on the deal. Whatever the issue is, it’s not trending in a positive direction, which sucks, to say the least.
Perhaps the Bengals plan to slap Bates with the franchise tag following the 2021 season and that’s why they feel comfortable not reaching an agreement with him ahead of the season.
This is unfortunate news and not what Bengals fans wanted to hear.