Close your eyes and imagine this: The LSU sensations Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase beat all the odds and made it to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, a ground zero of their saga. It’s a nice picture, right? That’s a “Cinderella Story” that might be botched because there’s a possibility that Chase might not even play in some of the games due to his contract issues.

Turns out, he hasn’t been practicing since the OTAs and there’s a real chance that Burrow and Chase might not be able to re-live their glory days again this year. At some point, the Bengals QB is going to get frustrated because his favorite target is not on the field. Ryan Clark knows what’s going to happen if Burrow doesn’t get his favorite receiver and that is why he provided some vital advice.

“If Ja’Marr Chase ain’t playing, Joe Burrow ain’t as good,” Ryan Clark shared on NFL Live. “There’s so much chemistry here, so much connection between the two players, they are dependent on one another to be as good as they can possibly be. Because every time they’ve been as good as they could possibly be since they were 18 years old, they were together.”

He did not stop at just pointing out how crucial Chase is for Burrow’s play. Rather, Clark made sure to deliver his remark across and said, “And so, if I’m Joe Burrow, I’m going up to Mike Brown and I’m saying, ‘Mike, you’re going to pay Ja’Marr Chase anyway. So, why are we waiting, why are we hassling over millions of dollars and two years left on the contract?”

It all goes back to 2020, when Burrow and Chase won the CFP Championship, along with Justin Jefferson on their side. Jefferson went on to cause shockwaves in the NFL after becoming the highest-paid WR in the league and Ja’Marr Chase seems to be on the same trajectory, except that he doesn’t have a deal in hand.

The Bengals have offered Chase a fifth-year option which is set to raise his base salary to $21.8 million in the 2025 season, per Spotrac. However, he hasn’t agreed to it and has been quiet for too long. While his teammate Tee Higgins gave in and started practicing after signing a franchise tag, there’s no update on the Chase situation. All we know right now is Burrow needs Chase to make it worth his while.

The bond between the two goes back to their college football days. The 2019 season saw Burrow throwing 527 times and completing 402 of those attempts. An 18.5 percent increase in accuracy was presented by the professional in his final college season. On top of that, Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns.

Even Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, the former Bengals receiver had a few ideas of his own and thought that Burrow might have to confront the team owner sooner or later. “I’m sure Joe Burrow will probably grow frustrated at some point not having his top receiver out there,” Johnson predicted. “I don’t think Joe Burrow would allow Mike [Brown] to do that. You understand how important Jamarr Chase is to the success of the Bengals.” However, Ocho didn’t stop there.

Ocho tries to paint a picture with Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase

The former Bengals receiver spoke to Adam Schefter in a recent ESPN segment and painted the Bengals’ version of the “Cinderella Story”. “Joe Burrow played for LSU, Jamarr Chase played at LSU, Super Bowl is in New Orleans. That’s the perfect story,” said Johnson to Adam Schefter. He even mentioned that knowing the Bengals and Mike Brown, Chase might get a new deal come week 1.

Neither Burrow nor Higgins have spoken to Ja’Marr Chase about his negotiations with the team and they just wish that the star receiver makes it back to the field on time. Higgins, who hasn’t been practicing recently due to a knee injury had a few things to say about his fellow receiver.

“Obviously I talk to him all the time, like “Man, I can’t wait for you to get back out there with us; offense looking good and when you get back there, it’s gonna look even better,’” Higgins reflected his optimism. “So, he knows that, but I let him handle his business. I don’t ask him any questions or anything like that, you know, I just let him do his thing.”

Expectedly, Joe Burrow is on the same page as Tee Higgins. He said, “I think the best way to handle that is to let him handle business the way that he sees fit,” at the start of this month. After having three consecutive 1k-yard seasons and three Pro Bowl selections, Ja’Marr Chase still doesn’t have what he wants, a satisfactory contract. Do you think he’ll miss a couple of regular-season games this year? Let us know below.