Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates made it clear after what might his final game with the team that he doesn’t want to go anywhere.
But Bates’ heartfelt comments included a note about the reality of the situation when it comes to his trip to free agency and the other factors at play besides where he’d prefer to be.
“I want to be here,” Bates said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Unfortunately, this business, there’s different scenarios where I’m not in a situation where I can leave $10 million on the table and be OK with that. It wouldn’t be fair to myself, my family, my legacy. Obviously yes I want to be here. My family is three hours away from here. I’ve created bonds in this locker room. I want to be here.”
This isn’t all that different from what other soon-to-be free agents like Germaine Pratt and Eli Apple said, either.
But with Bates there’s an added element given how good he is and how high the demand will be for his services, to the point it probably drives him out of the team’s price range even despite the NFL bumping the salary cap.
That Bates actually threw out a number might hint at where things were at between the two sides when previously negotiating an extension, too. He used his last tiny bit of leverage last summer when holding out after receiving the franchise tag.
Unexpected markets and developments happen often in free agency, but the Bengals have so many moving pieces this offseason and a Joe Burrow extension to think about that it’s going to be interesting to see how both parties pay this situation.
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