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Cincinnati Bengals: 1 Forgotten Thing About Ja’Marr Chase Holding Out

Glenn KaplanBy Updated:No Comments3 Mins Read
Cincinnati Bengals Ja'Marr Chase
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase (1) arrives at practice late, and out of uniform during practice at the IEL Indoor Facility in downtown Cincinnati on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024.

The Cincinnati Bengals may be without star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season and beyond. Chase has missed most of the offseason because he’s looking for a new contract. He will have a fifth-year option for the 2025 season (which the team has already picked up) and will be a free agent after the 2025 season. Chase is, by far, outside of Joe Burrow, the most important player on the Bengals offense. They both were teammates at LSU on the 2019 National Championship Team.

Cincinnati BengalsJa'Marr Chase
Cam Taylor-Britt (29), left, and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) right walk off the field after the Bengal lost to the Colts in a preseason game Thursday, August 22, 2024, at Paycor Stadium.

Chase is looking for a new contract with the team. Other wide receivers this offseason like Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb got paid earlier in the offseason.

Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Ja’Marr Chase Sat Out For a Full Season In College

Cincinnati BengalsJa'Marr Chase
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) signs a fan’s hat after a joint practice between the Green Bay Packers and the Cincinnati Bengals, Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, at the practice fields next to Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.

Remember when the former LSU Tigers wide receiver sat out for a full season in college after 2019? Well, it didn’t hurt his stock much at all because he was still selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Matt Lombardo of Between the Hashmarks was talking to agents about Chase’s current situation right now with the Bengals. The second agent who talked to Lombardo said:

“Remember. Ja’Marr sat in college, and was still a high first-round pick. Nothing wrong or out of the ordinary with his strategy now.”

If the Bengals were to lose in Week 1 against the New England Patriots because the offense sputtered, there is no way that Cincinnati can afford for Chase to sit a full 2024 season. They would have to pay him what CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson got during the offseason.

One Agent Recommends Sitting

Cincinnati BengalsJa'Marr Chase
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (1) walks the field during warmups before the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Chicago Bears and the Cincinnati Bengals at Soldier Field in downtown Chicago on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024.

People may think was Chase is doing is selfish for the team, but one agent thinks that the star Bengals wide receiver is doing nothing wrong.

“Sit,” the agent texted Matt Lombardo.
“These things have become far too common,” a current NFL front office executive and former general manager tells me. “It’s bad for the player, and bad for the team.”
We will see how long this Chase and Bengals saga will continue. He did practice for a couple of days in training camp, but head coach Zac Taylor spoke too soon about him. They need to get him back because the team is not very deep at the wide receiver position.

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Glenn Kaplan is a sports writer covering all things NFC East related and SEC related on Gridiron Heroics, mainly the New York Giants. He also writes for Wisconsin Sports Heroics.

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