Jessie Bates comments on possible extension with Bengals

One of the biggest priorities for the Cincinnati Bengals this summer would likely be an extension for star safety Jessie Bates.

Ask Bates, though, he’s just focused on the on-field aspect while letting his new agent handle the money talks.

Here’s what he told the media after Tuesday’s OTAs, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“I think a lot of guys focus too much on it, but I feel very comfortable with the change that I made. Obviously, I feel like I’m a core piece in Cincinnati. My family is three hours away, so I would love to be here. My main goal is to take that next level that I keep saying as a leader on this team. The money part of it will come. I just want to win. That’s all I care about is winning. The money part of it will come. Not just for me, but for everybody in this program.”

That would seem to make it all pretty clear: Bates wants to stick in Cincinnati for the long-term.

And the Bengals would be wise to make Bates one of the league’s highest-paid safeties — considering he’s already one of the best at his position.

Thanks to some smooth cap handling despite big spending, there isn’t much of a cap hurdle for the Bengals to leap in order to get this done, either. At his current pacing, Bates is a foundational sort of player for a unit and leader of the locker room the team should want to lock down without any hiccups.