Bates, who turns 25 years old on Saturday, was frustrated not to have gotten an extension last year and now faces the possibility of the Bengals placing a franchise tag on him if a long-term deal can’t be reached and the team wants to prevent him from leaving in free agency. The Bengals have until 4 p.m. March 8 to make that decision, and the free agency negotiating window opens March 14.
Asked in the interview with Ruiz if he still wants to stay, Bates said “absolutely.”
“I know what type of men are in that locker room, along with the guys who are leading us,” Bates said. “We have awesome coaches, from the strength staff to the people upstairs, the scouting department to the players. It’s hard to find a positive work environment and I’ve expressed that to Cincinnati. I’m only three hours away from near my hometown so being able to have my family, my nephews, my mom, sister and all that good stuff, it’s always a positive as well. I look forward to being a Cincinnati Bengal and we’ll see what happens.”
Bates last year had changed agents, now trusting power agent David Mulugheta from Athletes First, in preparation for this situation, as he wanted to make sure he got the best deal for what he is worth. ProFootballFocus.com graded him as the best free safety in the league in 2020, but he got off to a slow start this past season before finishing strong, including interceptions in the playoffs – one to prevent a touchdown in the first half of the Super Bowl loss to the Rams.
If the parties can’t come to a deal and the Bengals tag him, it would be worth $13.54 million. His rookie contract was worth almost $5 million over four years.
Asked if he would play under a tag, Bates said that’s a conversation he and the Bengals need to have with his agency, but he prefers not to do that.
“I’ve put a lot of trust in them with this whole process of just trying to stay focused and control what I can,” Bates said. “We’ll see. Hopefully, I’m not (playing) under a franchise tag. That’s something I feel like needs to be discussed (with) NFLPA a little bit. Some of the top guys got hurt under a franchise tag. It’s tough. You only get one shot at this. You’ve just got to play your cards right, I guess you could say.”
Bates last year had referenced wanting to model his situation after how Broncos safety Justin Simmons patiently handled his contract negotiations before his organization made him the highest paid player at his position at that time.
Fellow safeties like Jamal Adams and Harrison Smith also got extended by their teams last August, and Bates is projected to be in their company, between $15 and $17.5 million over four or five years. The Bengals appear to have room to get a long-term deal done, sitting with the fourth highest cap space at $49.2 million, according to OverTheCap.com.
“I’m not too worried about the ego part of being the highest-paid safety, but I do know value over cost,” Bates said. “That is something that not just myself but my agency, my team, that we’re going to continue to evaluate over the next couple weeks.”
Bates has plans to be smart with the “life-changing money” that should be coming his way, including helping others through the JB3 Single Mother’s Initiative that he started in honor of his mother.
Another contract with the Bengals would be the perfect follow-up to what he called a special year.
“The whole experience, from me being drafted in 2018 until now, experience the worst side of the NFL, not having any meaningful games and then you go on three years later and you’re playing in the Super Bowl,” Bates said. “So, it just says a lot about the process. It’s very special, it’s very unique. Everyone’s process is very different but the way that we built it in Cincinnati is something special. … We built the standard in Cincinnati that you can take on wherever you are, whether you’re Rico Allen who just retired, whether you’re Coach Golden who just got the (defensive coordinator) job at Notre Dame. We set a standard that can last forever.”
Bates said he’s learned a lot about the business side of the game the past year and understands he isn’t just going to automatically get exactly what he wants when he wants it, but he’s still confident it will all work out in the end.
“It’s just something that’s going to happen,” Bates said. “I know it will. I’ve put the work in. I’ve done my part. The rest of it is in God’s hands so we’ll see.
“There’s some interesting conversations that will be coming up soon. Hopefully, I’ll still be a part of that there in Cincinnati. But there’s just something special about the group, the young guys that we have in there. There’s a lot of good things to come there in Cincinnati, whether I’m there or not.”
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