05-19-2022, 10:16 AM
(05-19-2022, 09:46 AM)Stewy Wrote: I have no great love or dislike for Bates. Not debating he turned it on during the SB. Not debating he had a great 2020. But a guy that is so emotional about his contract that he cannot separate business from the ball field, IS A PROBLEM.
That his contract would affect his play, AND then admitted it (I'm sure his agent wanted to smack him), is a HUGE red flag. It's affecting him now. He has no leverage in holding out during team activities, he cannot afford to NOT to sign his TAG because he wasn't making 1st rnd pick money to sock away the previous years, and he'll get fined thousands of dollars per day once mandatories start. On top of that he's picking the wrong team to have money issues with in the first place. The Bengals do not give in, period.
Finally, if we sign him to a top 5 contract, what happens in 2 years when new money drops his contract out of the top 10? His history says he's going to get grumpy, it'll get into his head and it will affect his play. Bates needs to pull his head out of his ass and separate business from the playing field because he's developing a reputation that's going to follow him the rest of his career.
I don’t think he cares about his rep with fans. All his teammates want him paid. Our feelings don’t mean a thing if he plays on the tag and tears his Achilles in week 3 and never gets back to his peak form.
At this point someone has to leak a number. The way this is going i have to assume Bates is asking for 17+ million per or he’s asking for most of his contract to be guaranteed. Since i do not believe he’s asking for as much as Jamal Adams, i have to assume the amount of guaranteed money is the issue. If we had a 70 million dollar deal on the table it could be a situation where the last year of the deal could be voided or something.
Like SOMETHING is wrong with our offer. I feel like Bates is a very down to earth guy.
-Housh
