According to reports, Bengals S Jessie Bates has officially signed his franchise tag and has returned to the team.
Bates had been holding out from training camp after he and the Bengals failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension. He had been adamant from the beginning that he would hold out if the franchise tag was used on him. However, he had little leverage in this case, which always made it unlikely that his holdout would carry over into the regular season.
Up to this point, 1st round rookie Daxton Hill had been getting the first team reps at FS, and has done quite well. With Bates back, he will now take over in that spot, which should allow Hill to move around a little bit more.
Bates will make $12.911M under the franchise tag in 2022, and is currently scheduled to be a free agent in 2023.
