Justin Jefferson's contract extension gets the ball rolling for Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals
A major roadblock stopping the Cincinnati Bengals and Ja'Marr Chase from negotiating a contract extension has just been removed.Minnesota Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson has agreed to a four-year, $140 million extension including $110 million in total guarantees. With Jefferson setting the groundwork for Cincinnati and Chase, will a deal come together soon? It's […]
A major roadblock stopping the Cincinnati Bengals and Ja'Marr Chase from negotiating a contract extension has just been removed.
Minnesota Vikings All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson has agreed to a four-year, $140 million extension including $110 million in total guarantees.
With Jefferson setting the groundwork for Cincinnati and Chase, will a deal come together soon? It's tough to tell right now, but Chase should be nothing but elated at this news.
Ja'Marr Chase has been waiting for this
Jefferson and Chase have been linked together since their playing days at LSU back in the 2010s (see how old I just made you feel?). The big difference between their respective NFL careers is Jefferson entered the league a year earlier than Chase due to being one year ahead of him in eligibility.
This allowed Jefferson to become eligible for a new contract a year earlier down the road, but it didn't come so quickly.
Jefferson and the Vikings have been working at this deal since Jefferson's third season ended over a year ago. Accounting for the meteoric rise in the receiver market on top of moving on from franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins put a lot on Minnesota's plate.
Now that it's done, Chase and the Bengals have a realistic floor to work with, and it's an extremely high floor. Jefferson is now the highest-paid non-QB in league history. Chase is in position to wear the crown next thanks to Jefferson going first. There's just one other variable at play.
The CeeDee Lamb factor
The ball is in the court of not only the Bengals, but the Dallas Cowboys and their All-Pro wideout, CeeDee Lamb.
Lamb is also in the same boat as Jefferson was just a day ago. He's been eligible for a groundbreaking extension for the same amount of time as Jefferson, and has the accolades and argument to be paid just as much. He was a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler in 2023 after posting 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns on a league-high 135 receptions.
The question used to be which one was going to get a deal first. Now it becomes will Lamb or Chase go first?
From the Bengals' perspective, they may want to get ahead of Lamb. The Jefferson floor is certainly applicable for Chase, and going ahead of the next All-Pro can save them a few million per year. The timing of it may not be so simple as Dallas has two other big fish to fry named Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons.
Where does Lamb fall in the pecking order between two other elite teammates? Will that prolong negotiations until the end of the offseason? That can certainly impact how the Bengals approach Chase.
From Chase's point of view, if he was willing to wait until his former college running-mate got a bag, there's reason to believe he'd want to let Lamb go in front of him too, knowing he'd eclipse two top-tier players at his position.
At the very least, both sides have stable ground to work on the framework. That was the missing piece to get talks to start.
Now it's a question of how long until pen meets paper.
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