Ja’Marr Chase Desperately Demanding One Cent More Than Justin Jefferson

After CeeDee Lamb signed his new contract last week, all eyes moved to Cincinnati, where Ja’Marr Chase is “holding in”, for a new deal of his own. He wants to be paid like former LSU teammate, now Minnesota Vikings superstar, Justin Jefferson.

Chase has opted for the diva route many times, during negotiations. That’s why, all offseason long, there have been doubts surrounding whether or not he was going to show up at camp, or take part in team activities. He did show up. But the daily drama continues to drag on, even as we close in on the regular season.

Bengals head coach, Zac Taylor has been dancing around media questions regarding Chase for months now. It’s been quite the sideshow in Cinci. On Saturday, Ian Rapoport (NFL Network) gave an update on the situation.

Ja’Marr Chase demanding once cent more than Justin Jefferson

According to his sources, the two sides are inching closer to an agreement. What’s the hold up? Apparently, Ja’Marr Chase has made his demands clear to both the Bengals, and the NFL Network insider.

He wants to be paid more than his fellow Louisiana State University alum got from the Minnesota Vikings. Even if it’s only one cent more, Chase wants those bragging rights over his buddy and he reportedly won’t sign a deal until it’s for $0.01 more than Jets.

“My understanding is the two sides are still discussing a potential long term extension that, if he got it, would make him either tied for the highest paid receiver [in the NFL] with Justin Jefferson, or beating Justin Jefferson by 1 cent, which I believe is, in fact, the goal by Ja’Marr Chase. We will see, over the next how many days till the season starts whether or not that happens.”

Ian Rapoport – NFL Network

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There’s a caveat to Chase’s hold-in, though. Rapoport says Ja’Marr plans to play in the Bengals’ first regular season game, with or without a new contract. He’d probably be willing to hold out, but can’t afford to miss game checks or pay the resulting fines.

Minnesota Vikings fans are lucky to have Jefferson

Thus, Chase is going to make the Bengals a circus show, until he gets what he wants. His only leverage is his willingness to disrupt the lives and press conferences of his teammates and coaches. Zac Taylor is so sick of hearing about Ja’Marr Chase he could puke. You can almost see him gagging in his most recent meetings with media.

Yet again, this is another moment for Minnesota Vikings fans to stop their days and thank the football gods (or Philadelphia Eagles) for gifting us Justin Jefferson. Yes, Jets eventually got paid, but he and Kwesi worked on his deal on and off for two years. Never once did he threaten to miss a mandatory workout, let along games.

He kept all discussions in-house and never talked bad about the Vikings or made it seem like the two sides weren’t on the same page. He just went about his business, and waited for his agents and Minnesota’s front office to do what they are paid to.

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In the end, even after an injury that could have been devastating, he got his. No distractions, no nonsense. Unlike what the Bengals are having to wrestle, with his jealous former teammate. And even if he does technically get one cent more than Justin Jefferson, I’ll be interested to see how it’s structured and what’s fully guaranteed, vs what’s fluff money.

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