Among the many moves that the Cincinnati Bengals have made this offseason, Jessie Bates' contract remains unfinished. Although the Bengals placed the franchise tag on the star safety, Bates clearly said that he did not want to be tagged. There is still business to be done there, as Cincinnati needs to keep one of its key defenders around.

Kate Blackburn, the Bengals' executive vice president and salary cap guru, told Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer that the team will “circle back” to Bates and try to work out a deal.

“We obviously tried to get him re-signed last year. Thought we had a good chance of getting that done but it didn’t quite get there. I think they wanted to see where the market went in free agency and at some point, we’ll circle back with him and see where we are. But obviously, we love Jessie as a player and if there’s a way we could get something worked out, that would be great. And we just have to see where it goes.”

Bates was an AP All-Pro Second Team member in 2020 and recorded 88 total tackles in 15 regular-season games last season. He is a huge piece to the Bengals' defense and deserves a multi-year contract. The team's cap situation is not so messy that they can't afford a move like that. Paying Bates would work out for everyone involved.

The Bengals have shelled out money to sign offensive linemen La'el Collins, Alex Cappa and Ted Karras. Protecting Joe Burrow is key, but so is maintaining the defensive unit that came up big time after time.