Have Ja’Marr Chase and the Cincinnati Bengals fixed thing between them?
When we consider that the star wide receiver has not been offered a new deal, there are clearly still a lot of unanswered questions surrounding his future.
This offseason we’ve seen several of the NFL’s top pass catchers receive lucrative new contracts. Yet, there is one among them who hasn’t and understandably that led to a lengthy standoff between him and the franchise for whom he plays. The question now is, will Ja’Marr Chase continue to play for the Cincinnati Bengals under the current circumstances or is there is a new contract coming?
Ja’Marr Chase has returned to the fold
Cincinnati Bengals fans were given encouraging news on Wednesday after reports confirmed that star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase had returned to practice after spending the majority of the offseason holding out for a new contract. To be clear, Chase missed the entirety of training camp as he pushed for a new deal, though he did briefly attend a session last week before promptly leaving once more. It is understood that he is now in line to play against the New England Patriots in Week 1 of the coming campaign.
Of course, while this is a positive turn in one of this off-season’s many stories, it’s still somewhat confusing in that Chase is widely regarded as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL today, and quite frankly, has been so since he arrived as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 Draft. Indeed, after that maiden season, he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2021 while earning second-team All-Pro honors. Further to that, the 24-year-old has received Pro Bowl nods in all three of his professional seasons, while notching more than 1,000 yards each year.
So, again the idea that Chase has not been offered a new deal remains puzzling. Consider for a moment that we’re talking about a player that caught a career-high 100 passes for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns this past season and that was with starting quarterback Joe Burrow playing just 10 games due to injury. Also consider that since that time, Chase has witnessed fellow wide receivers such as the Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles’ A.J. Brown, Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, San Francisco 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk, and Dallas Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb all receive massive extensions.
At this point, one has to assume that something will be done in the near future and that idea has certainly gathered steam now that he’s returned, but the scenario does raise an eyebrow. So, as we always say, ‘Watch this space.’