Mike Brown: Ja'Marr Chase contract extension coming, but not anytime soon

Cincinnati Bengals Team President Mike Brown wants to sign Ja’Marr Chase to a long term contract extension. However, it’s not coming anytime soon.

Especially during this time of year, when training camp is around the corner. Chase is one of the top receivers in the NFL but negotiating during camp ahead of the season can be dicey.

So for now, it’s all about football according to Brown.

“It’s not so likely that this is the good time to negotiate,” Brown said, via Ben Baby of ESPN. “The offseason is a better time for that and we’re going to try to keep focused on the football part. I’m not going to rule anything out, but I will tell you that the die has probably been cast.”

Last season, Chase had a team-high 1,216 receiving yards on 100 catches with seven touchdowns. Higgins, who played just 12 games, had 656 yards on 42 catches with five touchdowns. It was his first season with fewer than 900 receiving yards after posting two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and 2022.

Both Chase and Tee Higgins were on the hunt for contract extensions, and they’re took different approaches to team participation as they continued negotiations. Together, Chase and Higgins are two top targets for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, so getting them both back on the field is a high priority for the organization.

For now, Higgins will play under the franchise tag for the 2024 season. By showing up for minicamp, Chase avoided fines from the team.

Instead of security for just one more season, Chase would prefer to lock in a long-term deal like several of his cohorts have done this year. The price tag has only increased with the Vikings signing No. 1 wide receiver Justin Jefferson to a four-year deal for a whopping $140 million.

The Bengals selected Chase, a former star at LSU, with the fifth pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. He still has the 2024 and 2025 seasons under contract with the team, but, as it stands, he’s set to play the 2025 season on his fifth-year option for $21.8 million.

Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report