Ja’Marr Chase had to deal with food poisoning in Week 1 of the NFL season. While not pleasant, that’s the least of his problems at the moment.
The Cincinnati Bengals, who lost to the New England Patriots on Sunday, consider their star wide receiver a rare player but don’t seem willing to pay him the roughly $140 million it will take to get him to agree to a contract extension. Chase will have to play without it as he seeks a place among the richest at his position. His offseason goal of securing a new deal didn’t happen, which isn’t a surprise with the Pro Bowler starring for a franchise that regularly avoids paying non-quarterbacks hefty amounts of guaranteed money after the first year of a new contract.
Chase is set to earn a $1.05 million base salary this season, although multiple reports say he’s looking to secure a deal that puts him on par with Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who recently signed a four-year, $140 million contract. (The Bengals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
Chase spent this summer as a hold-in (spending time in team facilities but not practicing), and still has two seasons remaining on his deal (including a club option). That hasn’t stopped him from wanting big dollars. He’s seen other star wideouts like Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings) and CeeDee Lamb (Dallas Cowboys) reset the market to around $35 million a year, while his fellow 2021 draft classmates Jaylen Waddle (Miami Dolphins) and DeVonta Smith (Philadelphia Eagles) also received extensions.
But some teams opt to extend their young skill players well before they hit free agency. The Bengals are among a few teams around the league that are averse to handing out multiyear contracts to veterans that contain significant guaranteed money. Atlanta Falcons safety Jessie Bates, who spent the previous five seasons in Cincinnati, had his fair share of contract disputes with the Bengals before he was franchise tagged. Last year he left to sign a four-year, $64 million deal with the Falcons.
The Bengals have been known to use signing bonuses instead of guaranteed money, which allows them to dump players more easily without accruing dead cap cash. While QB Joe Burrow got his historic contract, his targets aren’t finding much success. Chase could see his fellow wideout Tee Higgins play for a different team next season. Higgins requested a trade in March and has a franchise tag, which falls short of the long-term security he desires.
Former Bengals running back Joe Mixon, who was traded to Houston amid talks of a contract restructure in March, said last week he’s now on a better team and one that he feels appreciates him more. He started his new three-year, $27 million contract with a 159-yard rushing performance in his debut against the Colts on Sunday.
Bengals owner Mike Brown has long carried a reputation of being cheap despite the team’s success in recent years. It may be why ownership scored a ‘C’ grade on the players’ union team report card. The Bengals had the third-lowest revenue in the league last season are the lowest valued club in the NFL at $4.7 billion, according to Sportico’s latest valuations. The team has the lowest amount of dead cap ($7.4 million), according to Spotrac.
Keeping the Big Three (Burrow, Higgins and Chase) may be Brown’s biggest financial hurdle yet, as the wide receiver market has skyrocketed since he inherited the club in 1991, almost 10 years before Chase was born. Keeping Burrow’s go-to wideout since their LSU days is a priority for the club but handing him market-setting money would break with a long-standing Bengals’ tradition.
(This story has been updated in the third paragraph to indicate the Bengals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)
