Cincinnati Bengals fans understandably have mixed reactions when NFL analysts predict that quarterback Joe Burrow could reset the quarterback market and perhaps become the league's highest-paid player.
Many agree that he deserves it, but also worry that the Bengals won't be able to keep all of the star players they want to keep if they "back up the truck" for Burrow. And it was hard not to cringe when AFC North rival Cleveland gave Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract after acquiring him from the Houston Texans.
So what Burrow's former LSU teammate and close friend Ja'Marr Chase told NFL Network on Wednesday was received by some as music to their ears and others as wishful thinking.
"At the end of the day, I don't think Joe's really too worried about how much money he's gonna make because he's already making a tremendous amount," Chase told NFL Network. "But it'll work out for itself. It'll all work out. I think Joe knows what he wants and how he wants to set up his contract to keep some of his weapons around him. And I think that's the biggest part for him."
Earlier, the Bengals shared eight minutes of a miked-up Chase from the Pro Bowl Games, which included the Bengals' star receiver finding out during a flag football game that Kyrie Irving got traded to the Dallas Mavericks.
When Burrow signed his rookie contract with the Bengals in 2020 - a four-year deal worth $36.1 million - his father, Jimmy, joked that he and his wife, Robin, "finally got him out of our basement."
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