San Jose – One of the biggest upsets of the NFL’s Week 1 so far was the New England Patriots beating the Cincinnati Bengals on the road, 16-10.
It devastated survivor pools in the gambling world with a lot of participants picking the Bengals.
There were several reasons for the Bengals’ loss, including bad run defense, but the messy contract dispute involving receiver Ja’Marr Chase was clearly a distraction. It was a distraction all summer when he engaged in a “hold-in” during camp, and then his status for the Patriots game was up in the air all week with the player saying he would decide whether he played.
Chase wants to be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. There was a report he wanted “a penny more” than Minnesota receiver Justin Jefferson, a former LSU teammate, who recently got a deal for $35 million a year.
But Chase set the record straight last week, saying he wanted to beat Jefferson’s record deal by more than a penny.
“If I want to beat Justin, I’m going to beat the sh.. out of Justin. Not by a penny,” Jefferson said.
So the Bengals and Chase are not close on a new deal, and it’s become a major distraction for the team and could be moving forward unless they trade him.
This should be a cautionary tale for the Jets. They can’t let defensive end Haason Reddick’s nasty contract dispute and holdout impact them against San Francisco. Players and coaches were asked about it repeatedly over the last week leading up to the game.
Maybe it helps the Jets a little that most of the Jets players don’t know Reddick, who has never practiced with the team, after being acquired from Philadelphia in a March trade, compared to Chase, who has been with the Bengals since 2021, is one of their best players, and has a lot of buddies in the locker room.
However, the Jets need to learn from Cincinnati’s debacle on Sunday, when they lost to a rebuilding Patriots club: Don’t let a messy contract dispute impact the team on game day.
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