Ja’Marr Chase is one of the best receivers in the NFL. You know this. I know this. The Cincinnati Bengals know this. Chase is also extension-eligible this offseason, and he’s looking for a new contract. What does he want in such a deal?
“At the end of the day, I just hope I get what’s fair,” Chase told ESPN on Friday at the Pro Bowl Games. “Hopefully I don’t put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair, that’s all.”
And what does Chase consider “fair?”
“Fair is what I deserve,” he 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.”
Coming off a season where he led the NFL in catches, yards and touchdowns (and a four-year span where he caught 395 passes for 5,425 yards and 46 scores), the only “fair” way for Chase to be paid is at the very top of the market.
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The largest wide receiver deals at the moment belong to CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. Lamb got $136 million over four years, for an average annual value of $34 million. He also got $67 million in guarantees. Jefferson, meanwhile, got $35 million per year and $88.7 million guaranteed. Anything south of those contracts should be a total non-starter for Chase. And considering his production and the year-to-year rise in the salary cap, he should be looking to eclipse Jefferson’s deal.
The Bengals have notoriously been fairly stingy when it comes to paying players, but Joe Burrow has been advocating for the team to extend Chase and re-sign Tee Higgins. Only time will tell whether they do so, but it would be a historic mistake to allow Chase, in particular, to ever leave the organization.
