Latest Ja’Marr Chase update holds a quiver of red flags for Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are stuck with the final contract holdout of the summer. Ja'Marr Chase is still angling for record-breaking money with the Bengals' Week 1 showdown against the New England Patriots right around the corner. Occupying the 1 PM ET slot on Sunday, the Bengals are proceeding with minimal clarity on the status of their top wideout.

Credit where credit is due, Ja'Marr Chase has probably executed the most successful holdout of the summer. CeeDee Lamb could never quite make Jerry Jones sweat, at least not publicly. Brandon Aiyuk basically took a month to decide on the inevitable, wasting everybody's time before staying put.

Chase is almost definitely going to remain in Cincinnati long term. He has built up unmatched chemistry with Joe Burrow, a former LSU teammate. The Bengals have already been to the Super Bowl with this general core. If he's not the best wideout in the NFL, Chase sure sits near the top of that list.

The Bengals have a lot of hard numbers to crunch, but this will get done. When it will get done, however, is less clear. We are six days away from opening day.

The latest update from Bengals head coach Zac Taylor won't exactly raise the spirit of your local Cincinnati fan.

Ja'Marr Chase's Week 1 status is unclear as Bengals holdout continues

Chase was expected to practice last week, but he showed up in street clothes on Wednesday — one day after Taylor announced that Chase would be a full participant all week. The stunt successfully spoiled the vibes in Cincinnati and applied real pressure to the front office. Now Chase's contract status isn't the only thing in question. His playing status, and by extension his fitness level, is an open-ended mystery.

The 24-year-old is asking the Bengals for roughly four years and $140 million, which would tie the contract signed by another former LSU teammate, Minnesota Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson, earlier this summer. That would also give Chase partial or full claim to the most lucrative non-QB contract in NFL history, depending on how the Bengals structure the deal.

That is a lot for Cincinnati, especially with Burrow presently tied for the highest AAV in NFL history at $55 million. The ballooning marketplace for NFL stars is going to create a genuine roster crunch for a ton of contenders. The Bengals can't pay Chase his worth without sacrificing elsewhere.

And yet, this all feels like we are dragging out the inevitable (a familiar feeling these days). There's no way the Bengals balk at the 11th hour. This offense just doesn't operate at the same level without Chase. Cincinnati would be knowingly breaking up a Super Bowl contender by not extending Chase.

Quibbling over details is understandable, as both sides appear dug in on their respective demands, but the Bengals ought not to test the limits here. There's a fine line between good business and upsetting a cornerstone talent. Chase has more than five years of elite-level WR play left in the tank. So, let's wrap this up, folks.

Odds are Chase misses the Bengals' opening week game at this point. It's hard to safely ramp up in such a short period of time and there's no incentive for Cincinnati to risk injuring their franchise pillar. What happens beyond Week 1, however, will depend on how quickly this saga comes to a conclusion.