Bates returns

Bengals S Jessie Bates has re-joined the team to play out the season under the franchise tag, according to multiple reports. Bates skipped training camp after he and the team failed to work out a longer-term extension. (It wasn't technically a holdout, because he wasn't under contract.) Returning now still gives him a little more than 2 weeks to be ready for the regular-season opener. We haven't moved Bates down our IDP rankings at all through his absence. We'll watch to make sure he's on track for a full start to the year.