Bengals Exercise Ja'Marr Chase's 2025 Contract Option amid Tee Higgins Trade Rumors | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
The Cincinnati Bengals have exercised the fifth-year option in Ja'Marr Chase's rookie contract.
Cincinnati Bengals @BengalsWe have exercised the option to extend contract of WR Ja'Marr Chase. <a href="">
Picking up the option was a no-brainer for Cincinnati after the 24-year-old made his third straight Pro Bowl. In 16 games, he caught 100 passes for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns.
In general, opposing defenses have adjusted how they cover Chase after he regularly shredded secondaries deep and averaged 18 yards per reception as a rookie.
According to Pro Football Reference, his average depth of target (8.4) and average yards per reception before making a catch (6.8) career lows. Those numbers are only partially attributable to Joe Burrow's season-ending injury, too, because there wasn't a wide gulf between Burrow and Jake Browning in terms of looking downfield.
Still, Chase is widely considered a top-10 wideout in the league, and the Bengals have already seen they can win with him as the top pass-catcher in the offense.
While Cincinnati removed any uncertainty about Chase's status for 2025, the hard part comes next.
Spotrac projects his value at $26.1 million annually, a figure that is bound to go up as the receiver market evolves. Of note, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported on Wednesday that Amon-Ra St. Brown and the Detroit Lions agreed to a four-year extension worth more than $120 million, with $77 million guaranteed.
Ahead of the Bengals' season finale, the 6'0" pass-catcher admitted he'd like to wait until Justin Jefferson signs a new deal first, referencing how Jefferson could help to send receiver salaries even higher.
Kelsey Conway @KelseyLConwayI asked Ja'Marr Chase - who is always brutally honest - if he wants to get his contract extension done this offseason: <br><br>"Lord knows I want to do that. I mean, but we'll see what happens." <br><br>Does Justin Jefferson need to get his done first for you to sign? <br><br>" Hell yeah."
There's also the not-so-small matter of Tee Higgins, who requested a trade after receiving the franchise tag from Cincinnati. For now, all signs are pointing to Higgins playing out the year and going from there.
Keeping the tandem of him and Chase together for multiple years might be cost-prohibitive. Chase was coy when asked directly whether he'd take less money in order to pave the way for Higgins' return:
Mike Petraglia @TragsJa'Marr Chase teases that he wants his money upfront and would love a deal done this offseason and wonders whether Tee Higgins might return with him. "It depends on how much I'm taking." <a href="">
If choosing between the two, you'd expect the Bengals to prefer Chase over Higgins, but there's the third option where they conclude it's ultimately a better allocation of resources to trade Chase instead of paying him the market rate.
The odds of the last option seem somewhat remote given Chase's close relationship with Joe Burrow and the somewhat mixed results of the Tyreek Hill and A.J. Brown trades for the teams that dealt them.
The Kansas City Chiefs continue to win titles without Hill but have had a glaring void in their receiving corps. The Tennessee Titans' passing game has simply been bad in the two years since Brown's departure.
Plenty of things are still to be sorted out. For now, Chase isn't going anywhere.
