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Ja'Marr Chase rumors: Bengals WR has “no plans” to negotiate contract during season | News, results, highlights, stats and rumors

CINCINNATI, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 8: Ja'Marr Chase #1 of the Cincinnati Bengals lines up for a play in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Paycor Stadium on September 8, 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase “has no plans to negotiate a long-term contract this season.”

Chase “believes the team misled him during the offseason,” Schefter said.

“Sources say the star wide receiver recalls the Bengals telling him at the end of last season and again in the offseason that he would get a contract extension, which ultimately did not happen,” Schefter wrote.

Chase is currently under contract with the team through 2025 after the Bengals exercised his $21.8 million club option for next season.

The receiver has taken out a $50 million self-insurance policy for this season “to reinforce his word and strengthen his position,” Schefter reported.

“Chase and his representative believe the right time to make an offseason deal would have been when the Bengals told him it would work out,” Schefter wrote.

Spotrac @sarcastic

Why it makes sense for Ja'Marr Chase to wait to continue contract negotiations:
1) Justin Jefferson's APY of $35 million will be worth $37 million with a cap of $270 million.
2) His salary cap for 2025 increases to $21.8 million (currently $9.8 million).
3) Tee Higgins' $21.8 million will no longer be on the books

According to Schefter, the Bengals first informed Chase of the contract extension at a final meeting after the 2023 season and brought the topic up again at the NFL scouting meeting in February.

Sports Illustrated James Rapien recently reported that the Bengals offered Chase a four-year, $140 million contract before their season-opening loss to the New England Patriots. That average annual value would put him, along with wide receiver Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings, as the highest-paid receiver in the NFL.

Although Chase agreed with the “raw numbers” of the record deal, the wide receiver objected to the timing of the guarantees, Rapien reported.

Schefter similarly reported that Chase's problem with the deal centered on “the structure of the deal and the payout of the money.”

According to Schefter and ESPN Research, the Bengals have not offered a player a contract extension during a season since signing offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth to a one-year deal in 2015.

According to Schefter, this is the only season-long contract the Bengals have signed since at least 2004.

Although Chase's reported decision not to negotiate a new contract during the season raised questions about his future with the team, the wide receiver has stated that he will join the team for the 2024 season. In the season opener, he caught six balls for 62 yards.

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