Cincinnati Bengals News & Rumors

AUGUST 29: Chase was again present for practice without participating on Thursday, as noted by Baby. Taylor declined to offer a firm timeline on when he expects Chase to return to team drills, meaning plenty of uncertainty remains over a situation which appeared to to be nearing at least a short-term resolution earlier this week.

AUGUST 28: The Ja’Marr Chase saga took an interesting turn today. After returning to practice earlier this week, the Bengals wideout didn’t participate in today’s session. Per Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic, Chase was spotted at the team facility wearing only street clothes. ESPN’s Ben Baby confirms that Chase did not practice with the team today. This development comes 24 hours after coach Zac Taylor said he expected his star wideout to practice fully on Wednesday and Thursday.

After staging a training camp hold-in in pursuit of a new contract, Chase seemed to abandon his stance this week. The receiver participated in lighter practices to begin the week, and Taylor even told reporters yesterday that his star player was expected to suit up for Week 1.

Things took a turn today. With the Bengals preparing for “a more traditional game week practice” (per Baby), Chase was on the sideline. Taylor later walked back his previous comments about Chase’s practice availability, noting that he likely spoke “too quickly” while declaring the receiver day-to-day (although the coach also acknowledged that Chase is completely healthy).

“I think every day is a new day. We’ll keep working through it,” Taylor said (via NFL.com’s Nick Shook). “I am not going to make any predictions to what tomorrow brings. At the end of the day, Ja’Marr is a great dude that means a lot to this team, and we’ll just continue to take it day to day.”

While the Bengals have continually expressed interest in extending Chase, the front office is in no rush to hand him a lucrative new contract with two years remaining on the current deal. Chase doesn’t have a whole lot of leverage besides protecting his health and staying off the practice field, but one of the sides will eventually have to blink if the receiver is going to play in Week 1.

Ja’Marr Chase does not have a deal in hand, but he is not expected to miss regular season time as a result of extension negotiations. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said on Tuesday the team’s No. 1 wideout is expected to play in Week 1.

“It’s been good just to have our full complement of weapons out there,” Taylor said (via the team’s website). “I think it gives you the visual of what it’s going to look and feel like for us. It’s been good to get him back in the mix the last couple of days. He’s looked great. Same Ja’Marr I’m used to. The plan will be to continue to practice with him.”

Chase had been engaged in a training camp hold-in, but he recently returned to practice. No updates emerged on the extension front Tuesday, although an agreement could still be reached in time for the start of the season. If that does not wind up being the case, the former Offensive Rookie of the Year will start the campaign while under contract for two more seasons.

The Bengals picked up Chase’s 2025 fifth-year option last year, a move which has him on track to earn $21.82MM that season. A long-term accord will cost much more, and while the Bengals have named the LSU alum their top remaining financial priority (since Joe Burrow‘s extension has been taken care of), the team appears to be willing to wait until next offseason to finalize a long-term deal. Chase himself is reportedly open to doing so, and today’s update would make it no surprise if he paused contract talks at least once the season kicked off.

The receiver market has seen another upward shift this offseason, with Chase’s former college teammate Justin Jefferson landing $35MM per season on his Vikings deal. That pact stood in a tier of its own for several months (especially in terms of guarantees) until CeeDee Lamb signed a Cowboys extension yesterday. That deal carries an AAV of $34MM and includes $100MM in guarantees.

A Chase deal will likely include similar terms, although a recent report stated that multiple teams around the league expect him to command the most lucrative receiver deal in history – something which would require surpassing Jefferson’s accord. Chase’s resume includes three Pro Bowls and one second-team All-Pro nod, and especially if Tee Higgins departs next offseason as expected, he will be Cincinnati’s top pass catcher by a wide margin. Regardless of if he has an extension on the books by that point, it appears Chase will have suited up for the 2024 campaign without issue.

AUGUST 25: Chase has returned to the practice field, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports. As of now, there does not appear to be any additional news to report on the contract front, but in order to be ready for the regular season and ramp up enough to mitigate the risk of soft tissue injury, Chase needs to get some practice work in.

AUGUST 23: As efforts to work out extensions in the cases of CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys) and Brandon Aiyuk (49ers) take place, uncertainty also looms over Ja’Marr Chase. The Bengals Pro Bowler continues to watch training camp from the sidelines as he seeks a monster extension.

[Offseason In Review: Cincinnati Bengals]

Chase – unlike his receiver peers who have yet to secure a lucrative second pact – is under contract for two more years since the Bengals made the obvious choice of picking up his 2025 fifth-year option. An extension, as has long been known, will cost far more than the $21.82MM he is due next year. Justin Jefferson‘s $35MM-per-year Vikings extension represents a target for Chase and other wideouts in similar positions, but the terms of that pact may not be sufficient to get a deal done.

Multiple teams are of the view that Chase will be the league’s top earner amongst non-quarterbacks once his contract is in place, Yahoo’s Charles Robinson writes. That title belonged to Nick Bosa last year, but Jefferson eclipsed him with his Vikings pact – one which includes nearly $89MM in guarantees. That extension has Jefferson in a tier of his own with respect to not only AAV but also locked in compensation, and Chase (along with Lamb and Aiyuk) is likely to close the gap between Jefferson and the rest of the field.

Bengals owner Mike Brown has confirmed Chase’s extension is a key organizational priority (one which will require breaking with standard organizational procedure and committing guaranteed money beyond Year 1). Keeping him in place with quarterback – and former LSU teammate – Joe Burrow would help keep Cincinnati’s offensive positioned for success, but Brown has suggested the team is willing to wait one year before finalizing a massive extension. As Robinson notes, the Bengals seem to be struggling to come to grips with the potential of a record-breaking pact being necessary to get Chase back on the field.

With Cincinnati’s preseason in the books, attention will increasingly turn to the 24-year-old’s willingness to miss regular season time if no extension agreement is reached. A recent report indicated Chase was OK with delaying negotiations until 2025 – and therefore waiting until the Lamb and Aiyuk accords are in place – but it remains to be seen if he will suit up in time for Week 1. As Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic writes, the 2021 Offensive Rookie of the Year himself may not have his mind made up at this point (subscription required).

There is of course still some time for Chase and the Bengals to come to an agreement either on a new deal or an arrangement to pause talks until after the coming campaign. This situation will no doubt be influenced by those of Lamb and Aiyuk, but those pending free agents face more urgency to get a deal done in time for September. A very late extension agreement (like the one worked out for A.J. Green in 2015) could still be in the cards, but plenty of unanswered questions remain regarding Chase’s immediate future.