After historic season, Ja'Marr Chase on contract talks: "I just want what I deserve"
Former LSU star receiver Ja’Marr Chase wrapped up his fourth season with the Cincinnati Bengals on his rookie deal and will be looking for a new contract soon.
In four years, Chase has caught 395 balls for 5,425 yards and 46 touchdowns from quarterback Joe Burrow, including the triple-crown in 2024 to lead the league in catches, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns as the best receiver.
Chase recently spoke to ESPN about what he’s looking for in a contract extension from the Bengals.
“I just hope I get what’s fair at the end of the day and you know what my worth is,” he said while in Orlando for the NFL Pro Bowl. “Hopefully I don’t put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair. That’s all.”
What would be fair? “Fair is just what I deserve. I can’t really say everything I want to say, but it’s what I deserve. It’s what I worked for. It’s how hard I worked for. It’s a written story already. It should be a fair change.”
Burrow was also asked about the contract situation for Chase, along with Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson.
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“Yeah, we can make it happen. We can make it happen,” Burrow said during an interview with Sirius XM. “It just has to be right for everybody involved. I know the players wanna make it work, we all wanna be together. I don’t see it not working out, but we’ll see.”
Chase, a Rummel product, has certainly proved his worth in his first couple years in the NFL and will likely reset the wide receiver market once a deal gets done. Currently, another former LSU Tiger is the highest paid non-QB: Justin Jefferson. The Minnesota Vikings made Jefferson the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL when he signed a four-year, $140 million contract extension in June 2024, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Jefferson earns an average of $35 million per season.
Since the 1970 NFL merger, Chase is only the fifth player to win the receiving triple crown. He’s in elite company with Jerry Rice (1990), Sterling Sharpe (1992), Steve Smith Sr. (2005), Cooper Kupp (2021) and Chase in 2024.
