Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase did not participate in organised team activities due to a contract issue with the organisation. Chase became eligible for a new contract this offseason and wants to be compensated appropriately.
Here’s the thing: OTAs are entirely voluntary. Teams would certainly prefer that their players attend, yet they frequently fail to do so. So it’s actually not a big issue.
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Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase Update Could Be Viewed As Concerning
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Bengals’ Ja’Marr Chase Update Could Be Viewed As Concerning
Originally posted on NFL Analysis Network
By Matthew Schmidt | Last updated 6/5/24
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase was not present at organized team activities as a result of a contract dispute with the organization.
Chase became eligible for a new deal this offseason, and he wants to be compensated accordingly.
Here’s the thing: OTAs are voluntary. Teams would obviously prefer that their players show up, but players skip them all the time. So, it really isn’t a huge deal.
But the Bengals open up mandatory minicamp next week. If Chase foregoes that, too, then Cincinnati may have a bit of a problem on its hands.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor provided a very vague update on Chase on Wednesday, and it probably isn’t too comforting to Cincy fans.
“I’ve talked with Ja’Marr,” Taylor said, via WCPO 9. “I won’t get into our conversations, but we’ve had great dialogue.”
That was Taylor’s answer when asked whether or not Chase would show up for minicamp. So, obviously, he doesn’t know, and it’s probably trending toward “no.”
The Bengals are Down Their Two Top Receivers
Chase isn’t the only Bengals receiver embroiled in a contract standoff with the club. Tee Higgins is also at odds with the team and has yet to sign his franchise tender.
Cincinnati applied a franchise tag to Higgins earlier this offseason, preventing him from reaching free agency. This aggravated Higgins, who, in turn, requested a trade.
Higgins would later say that he expected to be with the Bengals in 2024, but because he hasn’t inked his tender yet, he is not eligible to participate in offseason workouts.
Cincinnati was without both Chase and Higgins at OTAs, and it’s looking like the squad could be sans both wide outs at mandatory minicamp, as well.
As far as Chase is concerned, he has two years remaining on his deal, so the Bengals don’t necessarily have to extend him now. However, it may better serve them to just get Chase’s new contract out of the way in order to preserve the group dynamic heading into 2024.
Higgins’ case is obviously more pressing, as he is technically not even under contract with Cincy. You have to figure that he will ultimately sign his franchise tender, as he surely does not want to sit out a whole season with free agency looming. That’s especially after Higgins had a disappointing 2023 campaign.
But, stranger things have happened in the NFL.
We’ll get a better idea of where things stand between the Bengals and Ja’Marr Chase next week.
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