Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals contract situation. Here's my take.
*The Bengals do have Chase under contract for two more seasons (2004 and 2025). They don't have to do anything. I'll get into rookie deals in a second but Chase has no flexibility within that deal to do anything. If the Bengals franchise him in 2026, then he has a small bit of flexibility, but not much.
*Understand Chase's current contract. Every draft pick operates under a rookie scale. Meaning no matter who was selected with the 5th pick in the 2021 draft, they were going to get the same contract Chase did. There is no real negotiating. The contract is locked. So Chase had zero ability to maximize his value on the contract he's currently on. Either he signs it or he doesn't have a job playing football.
*Five key things to remember from Chase's point of view.
1. He's outperformed his current contract so getting his extension done now would be his security for the future locked in as well as signing bonus money in his pocket now.
2. As the graphic shows you, the other big time receivers in the 2021 draft class have already got their bags. So to the people whining "he's got two years left", he's seeing that his contemporaries who he was outplayed get their money. He wants his.
3. The "he has two years left" crowd forgets that the Bengals did Joe Burrow's extension last year when Burrow had ... say it with me ... two years left on his rookie deal. Sure, Burrow is a QB but it is well known that both those guys are the true franchise players who are the foundation of the Bengals present and future. At least that's what Chase thought until now.
4. Tee Higgins and Jesse Bates were both franchised by the Bengals. So, in Chase's mind, he can see a path where the organization does nothing but make him play out his last two years, and then franchise him for $40M in 2026. While Bates is a bit of a different situation because he is a safety, Higgins plays the same position as Chase and both players weren't dealt with in good faith. That's because ...
5. Mike Brown owns the Bengals. As well as the Bengals have done the last 20 years, it's been more about drafting talent than retaining it or adding expensive players. Aside from QBs (Palmer, Dalton, Burrow), the organization hasn't been keen on dropping a lot of money on other guys.
*Chase isn't going to get any cheaper. Understand that a new Chase deal doesn't replace his current one. He will be paid $1.055M this season even if he gets his extension done. That's why it is called an EXTENSION. and the 5th year option of $22M for 2025 still would be a thing. So the contract they are battling over is for 2026 and beyond. Having said that, Chase's pice isn't getting cheaper. In fact, in just a week it got more expensive since the Cowboys signed CeeDee Lamb to a new deal. Waiting one year won't make Chase's price go down. He could skip all of camp and practices by sitting all the way up to next Sunday and then continue to work on the deal ... and it will keep getting more expensive.
*Both sides are afraid of ... injury. The Bengals don't want to pay for an extension now because, what if Chase blows out his knee or something and are now on the hook for all that money? Chase wants a deal because, what if he blows out his knee or something and his price plummets?
*To me, it is absolutely ridiculous the Bengals haven't got this done. All the other 2021 receivers got their extensions and Chase has been better than all of them. Not just better, but he is clearly a major part of what the foundation of this franchise. The Eagles (Smith) and Dolphins (Waddle) already have another great receiver signed. Cincinnati does not. You passed up drafting a OT (both candidates for that spot are now All-Pros) to draft Chase and you aren't taking care of him?
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