The Cincinnati Bengals enter Week 1 against the New England Patriots with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations, and those expectations became a bit more realistic after Ja’Marr Chase returned to practice Wednesday.
After Chase’s return to the field with his teammates, and following a hold-in amid an impasse in contract negotiations with the Bengals, quarterback Joe Burrow closed the door on any lingering doubt that the star receiver would be on the field in Week 1.
“He’s ready to go,” Burrow told reporters.
Whether Chase can actually get up to speed and ready for the opener against the Patriots with just two days of practice remains to be seen, but it might not take a significant ramp up for the star receiver to be ready to go.
NFL Agents Reveal Ja’Marr Chase’s Market Value
Chase returning to practice isn’t just encouraging for the Bengals’ big-picture goals for the upcoming season but is an optimistic development in what had quickly devolved into contentious contract negotiations.
If the Bengals and Chase are unable to strike a deal and he winds up playing on his current contract, the 24-year-old superstar viewed as one of the premier players at his position would collect just $4.8 million this season and is projected to count upwards of $21.5 million against the cap in 2025.
However, according to two agents familiar with the wide receiver market, there’s a recently signed contract that should serve as the framework for Chase’s extension.
Two current agents tell me they believe Chase is worth a similar deal to the four-year contract worth $136 million that CeeDee Lamb just signed with the Dallas Cowboys.
“I think Ja’Marr is in the right,” one agent told me this week. “He should be compensated around what CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson just got. The issue may be with Cincinnati not doing the guarantees that other teams typically do, except with how they handled Joe Burrow’s deal.”
Chase enters his fourth NFL season with 268 career receptions for 3,717 yards and 29 touchdowns.
While Chase’s value to the Bengals’ offense speaks for itself, it remains to be seen whether the two sides can strike a deal on his value to the franchise.
