NFL Trade Rumors
Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase discussed his upcoming contract negotiations with Cincinnati in an interview with ESPN at the Pro Bowl this weekend.
“I hope I get what’s fair at the end of the day – what my worth is at the end of the day,” Chase said. “Hopefully I don’t put too much pressure on anybody, I just want it to be fair.”
Players and teams generally don’t like to discuss exact numbers in public and Chase didn’t break precedent. Asked to define what “fair” looks like, he demurred.
“Fair is what I deserve,” Chase laughed and said. “I can’t really say everything I want to say. It’s what I deserve, it’s what I’ve worked for, how hard I worked for. It’s a written story already. It should be fair change.”
Chase has an excellent case to reset the market at wide receiver after Vikings WR Justin Jefferson and Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb signed deals last summer worth $35 million a year and $34 million a year respectively. Both deals were worth over $100 million in guarantees.
Cincinnati tried to work out a deal with Chase last summer but couldn’t agree on a cash flow that satisfied the star receiver. Bengals de facto GM Duke Tobin is optimistic they’ll get a deal done this year.
“It’s a priority for us,” Tobin said, via Kelsey Conway of The Enquirer. “It’s something we feel like there’s a framework to work off of. Should be a pretty easy framework to work off of. Guys in his position have recently re-done contracts. We believe in Ja’Marr, he’s very important to us. The other guys that have done contracts are very important to their teams. So, we believe there’s a real framework to work off of. I would expect that we could come together on something that makes sense for both sides.”
Chase, 24, was a two-year starter at LSU and a unanimous All-American during his sophomore season. He opted out of the 2020 college football season due to the pandemic. The Bengals took Chase with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
He is in the fourth year of a four-year, $30,819,642 contract with the Bengals that included a $19,774,285 signing bonus. The Bengals picked up a fifth-year option on him worth $21.816 million fully guaranteed for the 2025 season.
In 2024, Chase appeared in 17 games for the Bengals and caught 127 passes on 175 targets for 1,708 yards and 17 touchdowns, winning the NFL triple crown by leading the league in catches, yards and touchdowns.
We’ll have more on Chase as the news is available.
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