Franchise tag opens: Bengals?

[WeezyBengal]

(02-21-2023, 03:40 PM)Stewy Wrote: One of the key reason Bates didn't sit out last year because he was a 2nd round pick and essentially had never been paid any big money as he was on his first contract.

LeVeon Bell's situation was unique in that he had already played on the TAG and banked millions, just like Bates did this year.  Thus, I find it very VERY likely that Bates will sit out a 2nd tag, since he just got paid enough to safely sit out, assuming he banked the pay instead of squandering it.

I fully expect that Bates will NOT play on a 2nd tag.

I dont think Bates would skip out on 14 million dollars. He'd be an absolute idiot to do so. 

The best that he can do is threaten it and use it as leverage for the Bengals to trade him. He wouldn't actually do it I wouldn't think.