Why the **** is Jessie Bates not signed yet?

[Whatever]

(05-19-2022, 10:16 AM)Housh Wrote: 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.

I think the reality is that none of us knows Bates and to try and come up with numbers based on the assumed personality of a guy we don't know isn't a good excercise.  

It's a difficult negotiation based on the up and down nature of Bates' play.  He was good as a rookie, mediocre in Year 2, elite in Year 3, sucked last year, and was elite in the playoffs.  Bates' camp is likely making the argument that he's proven he can play at an elite level and the Bengals' counterargument is that he doesn't actually play at an elite level most of the time and shouldn't be paid as if he does.