Understandably, the subject of his inevitable contact extension came up at the Pro Bowl for Cincinnati Bengals wideout Ja’Marr Chase.
Frankly, Chase took it easy on the team, too.
While quarterback Joe Burrow has bashed the Bengals over the head publicly roughly once a week since the start of December for letting talented players leave in the past and urging them not to do it again, Chase was more reserved in his comments.
“At the end of the day, I just hope I get what’s fair,” Chase told ESPN’s Laura Rutledge. “…Hopefully I don’t put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair, that’s all.”
Chase didn’t have to let the Bengals off that easy in front of a national audience. The guarantees and structure of payouts were issues in talks between player and team before the season and a report said Chase felt misled about the whole thing.
RELATED: It sounds like Jermaine Burton is on last chance with Bengals already
Chase could’ve hit the Pro Bowl and said he wants well over the $35 million average annual value that Justin Jefferson gets. Heck, he could’ve said he wants $40 million AAV. He could’ve even provided insight into what went wrong and why during his “hold-in” before the season and into Week 1.
For now, though, the Bengals get a pass. All the typically conservative front office has to do is pay him a historic contract while also trying to figure out what to do with Tee Higgins’ expensive market and possibly Trey Hendrickson drama.
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]