With Ja’Marr Chase going through a contract negotiation with the Bengals, there’s been a rumor floating around that he’d like his next deal to be one penny more than the record-setting deal his friend and former college teammate Justin Jefferson received from the Vikings earlier this year.
Chase dispelled that notion when speaking to the media on Friday.
“If I want to beat Justin, I want to beat the shit out of Justin,” Chase said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, eliciting laughs from the assembled media. “Not by a penny, bro.”
But that doesn’t mean Chase is looking to reset the market in an outlandish way.
“I’m not really looking to go a lot higher,” Chase said. “That’s not really me trying to beat him out, me trying to go crazy. It’s just what’s right.
“There’s longevity involved.”
Chase said he thinks the two sides are “pretty close” to reaching a deal, but he’d like to stop negotiations on Sunday. Chase said it’s likely a game-time decision if he’ll play if there’s no agreement.