Ja'Marr Chase's astonishing 2024 season couldn't have come at a better time.
The Cincinnati Bengals' star wide receiver led the league in receptions (127), receiving yards (1,708) and receiving touchdowns (17) this season, becoming just the sixth wideout in the Super Bowl era to achieve the receiving triple crown.
Those stats figure to play into him generating big numbers in terms of a new contract, and the 24-year-old is looking to earn "what's fair" as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.
"At the end of the day, I just hope I get what's fair," Chase told ESPN's Laura Rutledge on Friday. "...Hopefully I don't put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair, that's all."
And what is "fair" in Chase's eyes?
"Fair is what I deserve," he answered Rutledge. "I can't really say everything I want to say. It's what I deserve, it's what I've worked for, how hard I worked for. It's a written story already. It should be fair change."
Chase's contract has been a big subject in Cincinnati dating back to last offseason. The fourth-year WR sat out training camp practices in an attempt to get a new contract which, of course, never came. Chase didn't miss a game anyway, breaking the franchise's single-season receiving records in the process of playing under a $4.86 million salary in 2024.
With the Bengals picking up his fifth-year option, Chase is set to earn $21.816 million in 2025, but long-term security is what he ultimately seeks.
The Bengals' director president of player personnel Duke Tobin faces a busy offseason with Chase, fellow WR Tee Higgins -- who played on a franchise tag in 2024 -- and Trey Hendrickson also seeking new contracts going forward. Cincinnati has roughly $46 million in salary cap space entering 2025.
Despite a negotiation looming for the coming months, Chase isn't speaking as though he won't be around in 2025 when asked about what he hopes changes for the Bengals following a playoff-less campaign.
"Honestly, I hope we just finish stronger, finish better, finish faster." Chase said. "Even start off better, cause starting off better will help us in the back-end of the year. So, it's just the smaller things that we got to clean up. Get a couple things that we got to clean up, get a couple things on defense hopefully that will make us even more better and just proceed to make corrections on offense that's going to get us in the right direction."
Cincinnati won its final five games to remain in the playoff hunt, but ultimately a 1-3 start to the season -- and another three-game losing streak beginning in Week 10 -- prevented the Bengals from seeing the postseason. While the offense put up points thanks in part to Chase and quarterback Joe Burrow, among others, the leaky defense was a cause for concern.
The Bengals have since hired Al Golden as their new defensive coordinator after parting ways with longtime DC Lou Anarumo, signaling the team's realization of change being needed.
Chase is hoping his chunk of change comes next.
