Cincinnati Bengals News & Rumors

By virtue of picking up Ja’Marr Chase‘s fifth-year option, the Bengals have their top wide receiver tied to his rookie contract for two more seasons. Coming into this offseason, no team in the option era had extended a first-round wideout with two years of rookie-deal control remaining. But clubs have changed course recently.

The Eagles and Dolphins, respectively, paid 2021 first-rounders DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle. The Bengals are viewed as unlikely to follow this offseason trend, eyeing a 2025 Chase payday. The fourth-year receiver appears to be attempting to force the issue. Chase is not practicing for a second straight day, and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway indicating the Pro Bowler wants a new contract.

This process is veering toward a hold-in. This tactic has become a common practice during the 2020s, after the 2020 CBA made holdouts more difficult to wage. With the Bengals not known to cave in to player demands often, this will be an interesting storyline to follow.

Chase said during minicamp he was fully healthy, via ESPN.com’s Ben Baby, and the Bengals have not placed him on their active/NFI list. This further points to a hold-in measure being waged. The Bengals have shut down Jonah Williams, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson‘s trade requests over the past two offseasons, but Chase will attempt another way to bring management to the table.

Chase did not show for Cincy’s OTAs but did report to minicamp. At the mandatory offseason event, however, Chase only participated in Bengals walkthroughs. The Bengals have effectively earmarked a Chase extension, as they have Higgins tied to the franchise tag for the 2024 season. Higgins’ Cincinnati future is blurry, while the team has identified Chase as its No. 2 overall priority (behind Joe Burrow, who is already extended).

Mike Brown said (via Conway) the Bengals have started negotiations with Chase. The Vikings had begun talks with Justin Jefferson last year, but the sides were unable to come to terms by Week 1. This led to negotiations being tabled to 2024, when the Vikings hammered out a record-setting deal. The guarantees in Jefferson’s four-year, $140MM extension ($110MM in total, $88.7MM in full) proved eye-popping around the league and are certain to have changed Chase’s target. Chase had indicated he wanted to wait for his former college teammate’s contract before finalizing a push for his own extension. A year younger than Jefferson and vital for a Super Bowl contender’s mission, Chase has some leverage he can try to exert.

That said, the Bengals have the LSU product tied to a $1.1MM 2024 base salary and a fully guaranteed $21.82MM fifth-year option f0r 2025. While the team hold the cards here, Chase will eventually require a contract the Bengals typically have not been comfortable authorizing.

Joining the Packers in being against guarantees beyond Year 1 for non-quarterbacks, and Baby adds the Bengals have bristled at the notion they will need to change their contract preferences for non-QBs. The Vikings guaranteed Jefferson’s 2024 and 2025 base salaries and most of his 2026 money.

Structure figures to become a sticking point for an old-school organization, complicating its Chase talks. The Bengals may well have a clearer path to a deal in 2025, when Higgins — barring a second tag not used to be traded — comes off the books. For now, no deal is imminent.