Undoubtedly, the Cincinnati Bengals have had some contract drama this offseason.
Even before the Ja’Marr Chase saga, there was the whole drama around the long-term future of franchise-tagged star Tee Higgins and that odd Trey Hendrickson trade request that ended up amounting to little, at least for now.
And that’s something weighing heavy over season-long storylines and power rankings, such as the Week 1 offering from USA Today’s Nate Davis:
9. Cincinnati Bengals (9): Speaking of distractions, they’ve got a WR1 (Ja’Marr Chase) who’s intermittently practicing while seeking a new contract, a WR2 (Tee Higgins) who’s less than thrilled with his franchise tag, and a DE1 (Trey Hendrickson) who asked for a trade in April before backing off.
Davis does go on to say that most of the contract drama has since cleared and that, as usual, pretty much anything is possible with a quarterback like Joe Burrow.
Coming in at ninth overall in Week 1 rankings despite all of this isn’t a bad deal, either.
We’ll still need to see how the Chase saga plays out (the recent reports seem good, at least) and whether Burrow can put together another healthy season. But when he does, the Bengals tend to go places — and climbing out of spots like ninth overall tends to happen, too.
