Why Bengals Fans Should Pump the Brakes on the “Trade Ja’Marr Chase” Takes
Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
This year has brought out the armchair GM that lives inside all proud members of Who Dey Nation. It seems like each week, there’s a new theory on how to fix this team, whether it be firing a coach, firing Evan McPherson, or teaching Joe Burrow how to play defense. And if you think that last suggestion (which we made up) is a hot take, you aren’t ready for the heater that’s coming.
About a month ago, we first started seeing a nuclear take rumbling around. The first time I heard this one was from Andy Ruther on “The Dirty Sports Podcast.” The take? “If the Bengals really care about winning, they would trade Ja’Marr Chase for all the draft picks they can get.” I laughed at first, thinking that no one would take this suggestion seriously, but to my horror, other media members started echoing this idea. Then last week, Matt Verderame from Sports Illustrated released a piece saying that the Bengals should trade Chase to reopen their Super Bowl window.
If the Bengals traded Ja’Marr Chase, they’d be ridiculed as cheap. But @MattVerderame writes that they’d also have made the toughest move imaginable, and execs around the league tell him the haul would be similar to a deal the Chiefs made in 2022:https://t.co/eCycEe30gN
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) December 5, 2024
Let’s spend a few seconds entertaining the logic. Many executives around the league believe the Bengals would get a little more for Chase than Kansas City got for Tyreek Hill in the 2022 off-season. The Chiefs received five draft picks for Hill, headlined by a first-rounder in 2022, followed by second and fourth-rounders that year, and fourth and sixth-round picks in the following draft. The Chiefs went on to use those picks to put together an amazing defense and are now sitting on a league-best 12-1 record.
People are saying that Burrow is playing MVP-caliber football this season, and most have him in the top 3 quarterbacks in the league. With that resume, it is believed that Burrow doesn’t necessarily need such a high-powered weapon like Ja’Marr Chase. In Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes doesn’t have a truly elite wide receiver, but he’s such a good quarterback that he makes do with what he has and finds ways to win games. Burrow could do the same.
With Chase’s payday right around the corner, some are expecting it to be in the four-year, $150 million range or more. The open cap space and added draft picks a Chase trade might provide would make a Bengals fan’s mouth water. The plan could even be to pay Tee Higgins and let him be Burrow’s WR1, which isn’t a bad consolation prize. You can understand why that idea is attractive to some.
That being said, this take is not only too hot to handle, but it’d likely hold the Bengals back instead of allowing them to take a step forward.
It’s no secret that the Bengals’ defense is comically bad. Watching them find creative ways to cost the offense another game week in and week out has been frustrating. So any draft pick windfall, you’d assume, would allow the Bengals to go defense, defense, defense in the draft.
But also… if the Bengals were good at drafting for defense, wouldn’t they have a good defense already? Their recent track record suggests they’ve been horrible at it. Since 2020, you could say the only difference makers on defense the Bengals have drafted were Logan Wilson (2020) and, for flashes, Cam Taylor-Britt (2022).
They have been even worse at drafting defensive players in the first round. Myles Murphy, the Bengals 2023 first-round pick, had a combined total of 20 tackles last season and is sitting at a quiet 19 tackles this season. The Bengals 2022 first-round pick, Dax Hill, has only had two interceptions in his three seasons.
Seeing this laid in front of you, you have to ask yourself: Do you really want Cincinnati to give up a known generational talent (before his 25th birthday, no less) to gamble on the Bengals doing something that they have absolutely failed at in recent years?
This Ja'Marr Chase guy is pretty good pic.twitter.com/GXOO7QhbyN
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 10, 2024
Just this week in The Simpsons Bowl, Chase had 14 receptions for 177 yards and found the end zone twice. And if the Bengals are concerned about the potential of replacing Higgins, how are they going to replace Chase? The Bengals’ No. 1 wideout has nearly 1,000 more receiving yards than current WR3 Andrei Iosivas. There has been no one on this roster who has shown promise to backfill as WR2.
Make no mistake: The Bengals will also be using one of their high draft picks on a receiver if they trade Chase. A team that can offer Cincinnati “the house” for Chase isn’t going to have an available receiver to go back.
I understand the fanbase loves playing GM and is trying to find any way to turn around a team that should be much better than its 5-8 record. But the biggest reason the Bengals had so much optimism heading into the season was the connection that Burrow and Chase have. One prime example was on Monday, on the play that turned into Chase’s first touchdown. Burrow threw the ball before Chase even completed his route. As the receiver looked back, the ball was already to him. It was unbelievable, and it’s truly special to see a QB and WR on the same page to that degree.
TOUCHDOWN BENGALS JOE BURROW TO JA’MARR CHASE pic.twitter.com/RIKlwKNDR3
— BahdAzzButter (@BahdAzzButter) December 10, 2024
So because of the proven success of No. 1 and the proven disasters of the Bengals drafting defensive players, it is way too much of a gamble for the Bengals to head down that road. Sure, desperate times call for desperate measures, but this ain’t it. Now, pay the man, dammit!
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