We said it last week. Now that Justin Jefferson has a new contract, we’ll say it again.
The Bengals need to get receiver Ja’Marr Chase signed ASAFP.
Chase, by all appearances, was waiting for Jefferson. And now that Jefferson has agreed to terms on a four-year extension with a new-money average of $35 million, the Bengals could do some fairly simple copying and pasting.
The fact that Chase has two years left on his rookie deal, at a total payout of $31.6 million, makes it easier to catch Jefferson’s new-money average.
From last week’s story: “If, for example, Jefferson pushes the bar to $35 million per year in new money, the Bengals could give Chase a three-year, $105 million extension ($35 million per year). That’s a five-year, $136.6 million deal. The total value at signing would be $27.32 million.”
Or if the Bengals want to do a four-year, $140.4 million extension (getting Chase to $35.1 million per year), they could sign him to a six-year, $172 million deal. That’s $28.66 million per year from signing.
It’s a huge difference. Jefferson will get $31.94 million per year from signing. Chase can get less but, as to new money, get more.
Regardless, the sooner the Bengals do it, the better. If I was running the show in Cincinnati (and Bengals fans everywhere should be glad I’m not), I’d have it done by dinnertime today.