Bengals Predicted to Lose Key Piece of Their Defense This Offseason

The Cincinnati Bengals fell just short of making Super Bowl LVII, and now enter the offseason trying to improve the team to get over the hump next season.

With plenty of big decisions to make this offseason, it sounds like one of the Benagls' key defensive players might be on his way out. Safety Jessie Bates played last season under the franchise tag, after failing to reach a long-term agreement with Cincinnati, but reports now are suggesting he's gone for good.

The team drafted Dax Hill last year as a potential replacement, and while Bates was a big contributor on Cincinatti's defense last year, the Bengals might not see the value in signing him to a bigger long-term deal when that money could be spent elsewhere.

Bates spent all five of his pro seasons with the Bengals and turned in one of his better seasons last year with 4 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, and 71 tackles across 16 starts.

With Hill ready to step into Bates' role, the 25-year-old safety will be a hot commodity on the free-agent market as plenty of teams need safety help, especially a productive and young safety.

David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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