Bengals' Jessie Bates III Reportedly Has No Plans to Play Under Franchise Tag in 2022

Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates III reportedly has no interest in playing for the defending AFC champions if it is under the franchise tag.

According to Tyler Dragon of USA Today, Bates is not expected to report to training camp or attend OTAs given his current contract status after the Bengals placed the tag on him in March.

The 25-year-old expressed a desire to avoid the franchise tag during a February appearance on NFL Now:

"That's a conversation I think that we'll have with my agency and my team. I put a lot of trust in them with this whole process. I'm just trying to stay focused, control what I can. We'll see. Hopefully I'm not under a franchise tag. That's something that needs to be discussed as NFLPA a little bit. Some of the top guys got hurt under a franchise tag. It's tough; you only get one shot at this. You just got to play your cards right, I guess you could say."

Bates has proven to be a durable leader by starting in 63 games he has appeared in and has missed just two games in four seasons in the league. The second-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft out of Wake Forest finished the 2021 campaign with 88 tackles, four passes defended, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Bates' statistical production took a step back after three straight seasons with more than 100 tackles and three picks and a 2020 campaign that saw him post a career-best 15 passes defended. However, he played some of his best football during Cincinnati's playoff run.

He recorded three passes defended in the Wild Card round against the Las Vegas Raiders, an interception in the Divisional Round win over the Tennessee Titans, a key pass breakup in overtime that led to a pick in the AFC Championship Game win over the Kansas City Chiefs, and an interception in the end zone during the Super Bowl loss to the Los Angeles Rams.

The postseason performance was indicative of someone Cincinnati may want to build around, but it also selected three safeties in the 2022 NFL draft. One of those was Michigan's Daxton Hill in the first round.

Bates' immediate future with the team figures to remain a major talking point as long as he doesn't want to play under the tag.