Cincinnati Bengals Safety Jesse Bates III, Bomb Bell among NFL Network’s Top 51 Free Agents

Cincinnati — The NFL’s free agency is months away, but the major rankings are starting to creep up.

NFL Network’s Greg Rosenthal recently released a list, citing two Bengal safeties, Jesse Bates and Von Bell.

Both players have had solid contract seasons, with Bates (71.4 PFF grade) checking in in 11th and Bell (63.7 PFF grade) in 43rd.

“Bates playing in the franchise tag is likely to leave Cincinnati after the Bengals drafted his replacement (Duxton Hill) in Round 1 last year,” Rosenthal wrote. It may be more valuable to teams that play high safety more, but there are fewer of those teams every year.”