Falcons' Jessie Bates III 'Fits The Culture,' Says GM Terry Fontenot

Jessie Bates III was the Atlanta Falcons' biggest free agent signee this offseason.

Jeremy Brener | Aug 4, 2023

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Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons had a busy offseason, making many changes on both sides of the ball.

Arguably the biggest signing the team made in the past few months came with former Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates III, who inked a four-year contract worth just over $64 million.

Bates is one of the best safeties in the NFL when he's on the field, but he also brings a lot to the table outside of that.

“Everything he can bring, outside of obviously the football player, he’s been a good football player in this league. We also know the person he is and what he’s going to bring to the locker room," Fontenot said. "We know the brand of football that we play here and we know how we’re going to win games here, so you have to fit that ethos and fit that culture and we know Jessie fits that.”

Bates played his first five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals and made Second-Team All-Pro in 2020. He played on the franchise tag in 2022 and tallied a career-high four interceptions.

Before 2022, Bates had at least 100 tackles in his first three seasons. He also had three interceptions in each of the first three seasons of his career. Atlanta was 24th in the league with 10 interceptions and 31st in sacks with 21. They were also 23rd in points allowed per game with 22.7.

Perhaps Bates can bring that magic back to the Falcons secondary this season.

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Published Aug 4, 2023

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.