Will Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase reset market or take hometown discount?

Beginning on Monday, all members of the 2021 NFL Draft class were eligible to receive contract extensions and Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase is in store for a massive deal. Will he reset the market or take a hometown discount?

Chase was asked if he would be willing to take less money to keep WR Tee Higgins, who's set to become a free agent following the season. Although it's an intriguing idea, he thinks that money could come from elsewhere.

"Who knows? It depends on how much I'm taking," Chase told reporters. "They might cut someone else. It might come from somewhere else."

Chase has been vocal in wanting Cincinnati to do what it can to keep Higgins and WR Tyler Boyd, who will also be a free agent this offseason. 

However, he knows he deserves to be paid after posting 268 catches for 3,717 yards and 29 touchdowns over the past three years. 

"They know I want them. They know what I want," Chase said. "End of the day, it's what they want. I won't hold nobody back from what they want. Let them be the greatest they can be. I support everything they do."

But after making Joe Burrow the highest-paid quarterback in the league last offseason with a five-year, $275M deal, there's only so much money to go around.

According to Spotrac, Chase is expected to receive a four-year, $104.54M contract ($26.1M per year). But if he wants to reset the market, which he very well could, he would need to surpass the $30M per year set by Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill.

Only time will tell what Chase plans to do, but the No. 5 overall pick in 2021 is about to cash in big. He says it's all part of the process.

"We make everyone else around us better," Chase finished. "That's the whole objective. That's the reason why they got us."