Ja'Marr Chase makes brutally honest contract demands from Bengals after historic Triple Crown season

Ja'Marr Chase is entering a critical point in his career: the final year of his rookie contract. Coming off a historic Triple Crown that saw him become the first player in NFL history to have at least 100 catches, 1,700 yards, and 17 touchdowns, he has an idea of what the first extension of his life should look like.

Speaking on Friday during Pro Bowl week, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver told ESPN's Laura Rutledge:

"At the end of the day, I just hope I get what's fair ...Hopefully I don't put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair, that's all."

When asked about what "fair" meant, he expounded:

"Fair is what I deserve. 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."

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Ja'Marr Chase hoping that Bengals start 2025 strong

The Bengals' past two seasons have seen a pattern develop: a slow start marked by inopportune losses, then a late surge with crucial wins that ultimately proves for naught.

In 2024, after a 4-8 start, they went on a monstrous run, winning their last five games to keep themselves in playoff contention. But they were eliminated when the Denver Broncos shut out the top-seeded Kansas City Chiefs 38-0 to finish 10-7 and make the postseason for the first time since Peyton Manning retired.

Moving forward, Ja'Marr Chase wants something new to happen: a hot start punctuated by consecutive convincing victories that lead to a strong finish and a return to January football and beyond. In that same interview, he said:

"Starting off better will help us in the back endfof 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."

The Bengals hold the 17th overall pick of the upcoming Draft.