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Just days before the games start being played in the 2024 NFL regular season, the clock is running out between the Cincinnati Bengals and WR Ja'Marr Chase to get a contract extension done. Last year, Joe Burrow received his new contract at the 11th hour. Chase has conducted a “hold-in,” meaning he's attended but has not participated in practices. Head coach Zac Taylor did not confirm or deny that Chase was fined because of missed practices. With no new deal in place, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes negotiations could turn ugly.
“The simple truth is that it has been ugly,” said Florio. “And there’s a good chance that, if Chase doesn’t get his deal by Thursday of this week, it could get a lot uglier.”
On Saturday, reports were about how the talks between Chase and the Bengals had ‘intensified,' according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler.
“From what I'm hearing, the Bengals have intensified their efforts to try to get this done in recent days,” Fowler said per X, formerly Twitter. “They are hopeful to try to get him back out on the practice field because he's been that hold in; on Monday, to get this going and get him under contract on a deal that will be well above $30 million per year on average. So, nothing is imminent.”
One note about this situation is that Chase has two years left on his deal. The 2024 season was part of his original rookie deal, and the club exercised his fifth-year option. So Chase is under contract with the Bengals for $21.8M in 2025.
The question is whether the Bengals are willing to pay the market rate, which should put Chase around what Justin Jefferson received (four years, $140M with more than $88M fully guaranteed).
Ja'Marr Chase needs help from the rest of the Bengals
Chase had a big impact in Year 1, helping the Bengals make a Super Bowl run. Cincy came within three points of a title, but since then, the team has had a variety of disappointments. In 2022, the team fell short during the AFC Championship to the Kansas City Chiefs. Then, the wheels came off last year, as a 9-8 record was only good enough for fourth in the AFC North. Their fate was likely sealed when Joe Burrow was forced out from Week 11 and the remainder of the season due to a wrist injury.
It was noted in late August that Chase wants a contract worth one cent more than Jefferson, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
Another point of contention is the Bengals could opt to spread out his contract money over more seasons, which would result in a more team-friendly deal.
“For the Bengals, the advantage of doing a deal now is that they would be able to spread out Chase's cap hits over six seasons,” Breech explained. “Chase is set to make just $1.055 million in base salary this year followed by a fifth-year option in 2025 that would pay him $21.82 million. If the Bengals matched Jefferson's deal (or gave him one cent more), they'd have Chase under contract for the next six years for a total of $162.88 million or $27.15 million per year, which sounds much more team friendly than $40 million per year.”
The Bengals' season would suffer a huge blow if Chase missed just one game. Their first matchup is at home against the New England Patriots on Sunday, September 8, at 1:00 p.m. EST.
