Last season, the Bengals retained Jessie Bates with the franchise tag. This time he leaves. NFL Network announces that the safety has reached an agreement with the Falcons.
It is a 4-year contract for 64.02 million dollars, with 23 million from the first year.
Bates becomes fourth in the ranking of the highest paid safeties in history.
The 26-year-old, selected by Cincinnati in the second round in 2018, is coming off a season marked by 71 tackles, 4 interceptions and 8 passes defended. All in 16 games.
Cincinnati loses one of its best defenders, while Von Bell, another safety, had already left them a few minutes earlier. We will have to recruit for this position. On the Atlanta side, we take advantage of having a big envelope to try to fill the many holes in the workforce.
