(Photo by Courtney Culbreath/Getty Images)
The Cincinnati Bengals’ two star wide receivers — Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins — are both looking for a lucrative contract extension as the start of the 2024 NFL regular season approaches, and it is a situation that threatens to torpedo another season for them.
But there is a bit of good news, at least in regard to Chase.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said he expects Chase to play in Week 1 against the New England Patriots.
“He’s looked great,” Taylor said, via podcast host Mike Petraglia. “Same Ja’Marr I’m used to. Plan will be to continue to practice with him.”
Key takeaways from Zac Taylor on the cut downs:
* Decisions to keep five tight ends “A lot of competition… way roster fit we could keep 5 right now.”
* “There’s six guys in there that can help us.” Decision to keep 6 interior D lineman made the most sense for now.
* “This… pic.twitter.com/CMKSLRpwVt
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) August 27, 2024
Chase is Cincinnati’s top weapon on offense and in a short amount of time has emerged into one of the NFL’s better wideouts.
Last season, he had a career-high 100 receptions for 1,216 yards and seven touchdowns, even though quarterback Joe Burrow played poorly to start the year due to a strained calf and suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11.
Chase has made the Pro Bowl in each of his three NFL seasons and at age 24 could be on a continued upward trajectory.
It will not be easy for the Bengals to pay both Chase and Higgins after they gave Burrow a five-year, $275 million contract extension almost a year ago.
But even if they can’t figure out how to do that over the long term, they could be back in contention for an appearance in the Super Bowl this year.
The Bengals have gotten to the Super Bowl three times, only to lose on each occasion. They fell to the San Francisco 49ers in their first two trips there in the 1980s, and in the 2021 season lost to the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.
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