As usual, the 2024 NFL preseason was fraught with hold-outs and relatively new ‘hold-ins,’ which are both utilized to accomplish one goal for players: get paid. And according to a recent report, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase nearly did that better than any wideout in the league.
Unlike some other hold-out candidates, Chase has two years left on his contract. While he is set to earn $4.9 million this season and $21.8 million next, Chase saw numerous wide receivers earn big-money deals this offseason and apparently figured, ‘Why not me?’. After all, Chase has surpassed 1,000 receiving yards and caught at least seven touchdowns in each of his three NFL seasons.
But the start of the season arrived without Chase inking a deal, as he chose to suit up for the Bengals for their opener vs. the New England Patriots. However, it was not for a lack of an offer, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“Ja’Marr Chase came close to reaching a deal with Cincinnati before Week 1, but it ultimately didn’t get done,” Fowler wrote. “People I spoke to around the league expected the Bengals to pay him somewhere very close to the top of the receiver market, possibly somewhere between CeeDee Lamb ($34 million per year) and Justin Jefferson ($35 million). If that’s the case, it sounds like the proposal wasn’t enough — especially based on the way Chase addressed the media Friday, with conviction that he could shatter Jefferson’s deal.”
Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase seeking huge contract
If Ja’Marr Chase is looking to “shatter” the deal of Justin Jefferson, his former LSU teammate, that would mean the Bengals wideout is seeking something far greater than four years and $140 million (with $110 million guaranteed). The total amount of Jefferson’s contract matched that of Davante Adams’ deal with the Las Vegas Raiders from 2022, although Adams signed for five years, while Jefferson, like many wide receivers this offseason, agreed to a four-year contract.
Jefferson’s deal also included the most guaranteed money for a wide receiver in the league — $88.7 million in true guarantees and $110 million in practical guarantees — so that could be another avenue for Chase to exceed Jefferson’s contract. While it’s not likely, Chase could push for a completely guaranteed contract, which if he had an identical deal to Jefferson, would ensure he makes all $140 million.
However, it is unknown exactly how much for and when Chase will sign. The longer he waits, in theory, the more desperate the Bengals could become to sign him to a deal that should only grow as time elapses. On the flip side, though, Chase is risking serious injury and thus a pay decrease, in addition to a potential albeit unlikely scenario in which wide receivers are seen as less of a commodity in a year or two.
The Bengals are set to visit the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. In Week 1, Chase had six catches for 62 yards as the Bengals fell to the Patriots 16-10.
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