Ja’Marr Chase feels unhappy, frustrated, and underutilized after two straight losses at the beginning of this new football season. Is the imperfect start to the season because the WR held out for most of the training camp or is it something else? Amidst all this chaos, word is also going around that Chase turned down a $35 million/year contract. But why? Is it because he wants more money than Justin Jefferson? Keep reading to find out.

Former coach Mike Lombardi and Grace Remington broke down what happened in the game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, Chase’s lack of performance wasn’t the issue this time, rather, it was his unsportsmanlike conduct in the game that nearly got him evicted from the game. This “diva” behavior, paired with an unsatisfactory contract situation, might hurt the Bengals in the long run.

Lombardi pointed out his stats and took a jab at Dan Orlovsky when he said, “Quit shilling for all the players to get paid more money. He’s no better than Justin. They’re the same player, right? One guy makes $35 million, and you say you want a lot more than Jefferson, you’re not going to get a lot more.”

He later added in his appearance on the DraftKings Podcast, “They offered you $35 million, and now it’s your job to have a really good year. And the fact that after this year they still have three more years to his rights, I mean that, becomes disruptive from within, right?”

Recently, news broke that the Bengals receiver has no plans to talk about a contract extension this season. Chase felt “misled” by Bengals’ way of conducting business and felt like the team didn’t deliver on what they offered him initially. Some even went as far as to say that “pride” got in the way of Chase signing the papers with the Bengals. He watched Justin Jefferson, Amon-Ra. St. Brown and a lot of players from his draft class make huge money and got a bit upset because the Bengals didn’t give him a deal in the off-season.

As reported by Sports Illustrated, the Cincinnati team offered him a 4-year $140 million deal with $90 mil in guarantees, which also included a $30 million signing bonus. So, what’s the hiccup? Well, the Cincinnati wideout wanted his injury guarantees to kick in early, but the Bengals declined. Instead, they offered the injury guarantees in 2027, which would have been too late in case he suffered an injury. Fair enough, Ja’Marr Chase!

Though his frustration with the management is warranted, Chase said something later that made it clear that it was not about Justin Jefferson. “If I want to beat Justin, I’m going to beat the s–t out of Justin,” Chase said last Friday. “Not by a penny, brother.”

However, it did not explain the outburst he had on the field after the 26-25 loss to the Chiefs.

What happened to Ja’Marr Chase in the recent bout against the Chiefs?

Let’s touch base on the game first. Chase only had 5 targets throughout the game and made 4 of them. Not only that, he amassed 35 yards, but no touchdowns. Things got a bit out of hand towards the end of the game. 10:27 remained in the clock when Trent McDuffie tackled him down on a third and seven. Ja’Marr Chase was fuming at the referee for not flagging the play and had some altercation with the official. It was Chase who got the short end of the stick.

Though Burrow forcefully pushed Chase away, the WR still got penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct, which got the Bengals out of the field goal range and made it a third down and 22 for the Bengals, adding to the loss against the Kansas City Chiefs. Chase was later seen on the sidelines, smashing his helmet under frustration. There was some controversial officiating in the game which added to the Bengals loss as well. It was reported later that Chase used “abusive language” towards the official.

Chase was being verbose in the locker room when the media confronted him about the flag that he got in the last quarter. “I don’t like losing” was Chase’s answer when he was asked about his “frustration” on the field. The Bengals 0-2 start has everyone in their feelings. As far as the contract talks are concerned, Chase and the Bengals might not open that chapter for quite some time. In the light of all this, his under-utility in the last game against the Patriots is also adding to his frustration.

“You’ve gotta ask [head coach] Zac [Taylor],” Chase said after the bout against the New England Patriots when asked about his limited targets. However, Ryan Young of Yahoo! Sports painted a different picture. “Chase wasn’t happy with his usage, though he played 40 of the team’s 48 offensive snaps. This was after he said Friday that he expected to be limited in the game due to his lack of snaps in training camp,” Young wrote in a column of his.

Burrow, Chase, and the Bengals will be up against the Washington Commanders really soon, and winning this game is absolutely imperative if they want to keep their playoff dreams alive. Was Chase right to deny the contract? What about his under-utility? Let us know below.