Cincinnati Bengals star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase returned to practice on Sunday, roughly two weeks before the start of the regular season.
So the obvious question is next — is extension news about to break?
The old adage “never say never” certainly applies. Before Sunday, Chase sat out the entirety of training camp. Minus one unexplained day (which could have been anything), Chase was always present, just not active.
Chase’s contract “hold-in” situation was a little unorthodox because he has two years left on his rookie deal. Still, Justin Jefferson resetting the market likely forced the issue slightly. That made it reasonable to think Chase might want a deal done this summer, although waiting to see what numbers Brandon Aiyuk and CeeDee Lamb pulled in on their own possible extensions would cause a slowing of talks.
Bengals president Mike Brown has made it clear a deal is a matter of “when” and not “if” for Chase, going as far as saying the team would “bend over backward” to get something done.
Not all that long ago, though, Chase had also made it clear he wasn’t in a hurry while waiting for other wideouts to reset the market.
While this might seem like an uncomfortable staredown between a star player and Mike Brown, it might also simply be Chase making sure he doesn’t suffer an injury that would impact talks.
Basically, if one were thinking this was a “hold-in” that doubles as Chase being careful, one would have suggested he return to action with the offense a week or so before the season — it doesn’t take long to get that timing with Joe Burrow down, after all.
That’s a longer way of saying that it wouldn’t be a shock if an extension happened between now and the Week 1 kickoff. But things waiting until next offseason, as always expected, seems just as likely, too.
Either way, if things were actually negative between Chase and the Bengals, fans would have seen whispers of it via credible leaks by now.
#Bengals offer photo evidence as the word is out that Ja’Marr Chase took part in practice today.
Was a full participant and they expect him to practice all week, sources tell The Athletic. https://t.co/zxlqOcvCjc
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) August 25, 2024
