The Cincinnati Bengals sit at 6-2 after they outclassed the Atlanta Falcons in Madrid on Sunday, in arguably their best performance of the season.
Joe Burrow and the offense showed yet again why they are the best in football, putting up 34 points, whereas the defense did a solid job containing Atlanta's offense, and producing a late turnover which iced the game.
Speaking of Atlanta, it was a welcome opportunity for the Bengals players to reunite with safety Jessie Bates, who regretfully left Cincinnati as a free agent in 2023, joining the Falcons. He was Atlanta's leading tackler with 14 tackles in the game and has been elite yet again all year.
On Monday morning, however, Adam Schefter reported that the Falcons are trading Bates to the Jaguars for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick...heartbreaking.
The Bengals front office should've made a move for Bates
When Bates left Cincinnati in 2023, Bengals fans were enraged with the front office for failing to agree on a contract extension for him. The former Wake Forest graduate was one of the Bengals' most impactful players during the run of back-to-back AFC Championship Games and was ultimately our leader in the secondary.
Since Bates left, this defense, especially the secondary, hasn't been the same, and it's still a problem that remains today. The defense has allowed the eighth-most total yards and ranks 30th in third-down defense.
The secondary has been the biggest issue too, as missed tackles and blown coverage remain after three years. Bengals fans, before the Falcons game, had all been saying the same thing: 'We need to trade for Bates before the deadline.'
The Jags managed to get him a second and a fifth; let's forget the fifth for now, as it's a 2028 pick, but a second in the upcoming draft. Are the Bengals going to draft a player who can be as impactful as Bates immediately in the second round... no. Are the Bengals in win-now mode and need more help at safety for the rest of this season rather than next year in the form of a rookie? Yes.
So why didn't the front office make this move? Bates has made it very clear that he loved his time in Cincinnati, and seeing as it is clear that the Falcons were shopping him, why didn't the front office go after him? We can all agree that the 29-year-old is worth a second-rounder; the Bengals should've listened to the fans and brought him back from Madrid.
The worst of it...We may have to face him in the playoffs now that he's gone to Jacksonville. That could come back to bite us...in a big way.
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