Ja’Marr Chase has been seeking a new contract from the Cincinnati Bengals, but no deal was reached between the sides prior to the start of the regular season. Now, Chase reportedly does not have plans to negotiate his contract during the season, and he also reportedly feels the team misled him.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that contract talks are off between Chase and the Bengals. Players will often set deadlines of having new contracts reached prior to the start of a regular season, and the Bengals failed to meet that deadline.
Worse yet, according to Schefter, Chase feels misled by Cincinnati.
The report states that Chase was told both at the end of last season, and again during the scouting combine, that a new deal would be reached. That never materialized.
Though the report makes Cincinnati out to be the bad guy, it should not be discounted that maybe Chase is being unreasonable.
The Bengals were expected to give Chase a contract that would surpass the extension Justin Jefferson received from the Vikings. According to Schefter, Chase’s side had an issue with “the structure of the deal and the payout of the money.”
Jefferson, who was a teammate of Chase at LSU, received an annual average value of $35 million on his contract extension.
Chase is in the fourth year of his rookie contract. Cincinnati has already exercised its 5th-year player option on Chase, which would pay the receiver $21.8 million.
