Free agency may be months in the books, but the Atlanta Falcons are in their money spending portion of the offseason. They just signed Drake London to a four-year, $141.5 million extension, and it feels like only a matter of time before more key players follow suit and join the "getting paid" club.
The popular candidates to be next in line are Bijan Robinson and Kyle Pitts, but they're not the only ones. The Falcons also have Divine Deablo, Jessie Bates III, and Matthew Bergeron set to enter contract years, and they should be prioritized just as much despite not playing at a skill position.
It feels inevitable that Bijan will be paid next, but kicking the can down the road with Bates is problematic. He's in the final year of a four-year, $64 million deal signed before in 2023, and the Falcons can't afford to let him walk or trade him. In fact, they shouldn't even let him touch free agency.
The Falcons need to extend Jessie Bates III sooner rather than later
While going through every NFL team's to-do list for the rest of the offseason, Bleacher Report's Brant Sobleski put a Bates extension on the list for the Dirty Birds. And he's right. The Falcons need to extend the three-time Second Team All-Pro before it's too late--and it's a travesty they have yet to.
"Meanwhile, Jessie Bates III remains one of the NFL's best safeties and should continue to be paid as such before he plays under the last year of his current deal," Sobleski wrote.
I wouldn't pay him a deal in the same ballpark as Antoine Winfield Jr., Brian Branch, or Kyle Hamilton, but a deal similar to what he makes now would do the trick. And thankfully, a safety who's set to turn 30 two weeks before he hits free agency won't exactly be in for a deal that'll shatter the safety market.
Spotrac projects Bates' market value at three years and $50.2 million, which is a pinch above the current $16 million AAV he's currently making. He comes with a $13.02 million base salary and a $24.77 million cap hit in 2026, and his deal will come with void years worth $2.5 million through 2029.
The 2018 second-round pick from Wake Forest is half of the best safety tandem in the NFL. The Falcons can't afford to lose Bates' production, but his leadership is just as important. He helped mentor Xavier Watts into one of the best young safeties in the NFL, and they make each other better.
Jessie Bates has nabbed 13 interceptions across three years in Atlanta, and his impact on this secondary is impossible to ignore, so him cashing in on a new deal is inevitable.
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