Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that the Browns have Bengals’ impending free agent S Jessie Bates on their radar as a target in free agency this year.
This comes after the news from earlier in the day that the Browns are releasing S John Johnson at the start of the league year.
It remains to be seen what the Bengals will do with Bates, but should be available in the next few weeks, the Browns are expected to pursue him as a free agent.
Bates, 26, is a former second-round pick of the Bengals back in 2018. He played out the final year of his four-year rookie contract worth $4,947,818 which included a signing bonus of $1,678,412.
Bates was set to be an unrestricted free agent in 2022 when the Bengals placed the franchise tag on him worth $12.911 million fully guaranteed.
In 2022, Bates appeared in 16 games for the Bengals and recorded 71 tackles, four interceptions, a forced fumble and eight pass defenses.
We have him included in our Top 100 – 2023 NFL Free Agents list.
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