Honey badger to Cincy?

[Bengalbug]

(04-08-2022, 10:39 AM)Au165 Wrote: They aren't the same player/position. Mathieu plays more of a hybrid strong safety/slot while Bates plays free safety as a center fielder. Mathieu only lined up as a FS on roughly 30% of his snaps whereas Bates does it about 70% of the time, it's not a plug and play move.

Looking ahead a year when von bell is a free agent, I think Mathieu versatility would be an asset. Even though you mentioned him playing only 30% of snaps at FS that was still the highest percentage at any one position in 22.

Free safety: 28.1% of defensive snaps
Strong safety: 24.1%
Slot corner: 20.7%
Inside linebacker: 19.9%
Outside linebacker: 4.9%
Outside corner: 2.3%

If we could lock him up for 3 years (at the 31.5m price the chiefs paid), that serves as a better long term solution and allows us flexibility next year without a significant (if any) downgrade at the FS position.

Just my .02

I’m not the only one that thinks this either - https://atozsports.com/cincinnati/news-tyrann-mathieu-cincinnati-bengals-jessie-bates/