Ja'Marr Chase, Bengals contract standoff updated by multiple reports

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase said his deadline for a contract extension was the Friday before Week 1.

As of Saturday morning, though, all onlookers have are reports from the media about the happenings and no news on a new deal.

Friday night, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported that things are currently in “contract chicken” mode:

Here’s how we understand things. Chase has communicated his best number to the Bengals. The Bengals believe, we’re told, that if they don’t move from their current number, Chase will accept it on Saturday.

The following morning, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that things are in the “redzone” for the two sides, though things very much remain in Chase’s hands.

What’s interesting here is that Chase suggested on Friday that he would, indeed, play without a new extension, although in Week 1, he might be “limited” on a snap count perhaps under his normal workload.

No matter how it plays out, Saturday and up to kickoff on Sunday might finalize things one way or the other, it seems, with both parties entrenched.