Ja’Marr Chase agreed to rolling guarantees to help Bengals in massive extension

We are more than two weeks into the new NFL year, and questions about where most of the big-name free agents will play in 2025 have already been answered.

For the Cincinnati Bengals, there haven’t been any splash signings, with the team adding only a handful of outside free agents so far, including running back Samaje Perine, defensive lineman Tedarrell Slaton, and guard Lucas Patrick.

With that in mind, however, the big move the Bengals made was to sign its pair of in-house free agent receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, to contract extensions that will keep the pair in Cincinnati for the foreseeable future. While that won’t help keep Joe Burrow upright behind the Bengals’ porous offensive line, it should at least help keep him happy.

Yearly cash breakdown for the Ja’Marr Chase contract

Having already looked at the details of Tee Higgins’ contract, the next logical step is to look at how much the record-breaking contract the Bengals gave to Higgins will cost the team in the coming years.

The cash in the deal breaks down by year as follows:

2025
Signing bonus: $22 million (fully guaranteed)
Roster bonus: $10 million (fully guaranteed)
Workout bonus: $100,000 (fully guaranteed)
Base salary: $8.07 million (fully guaranteed)
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Yearly cash: $41.147 million

2026
Option bonus: $15 million (injury guaranteed)
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $17.73 million (fully guaranteed)
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Total cash: 33.83 million

2027
Option bonus: $5 million (fully guaranteed in March 2026)
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $23.9 million (fully guaranteed in March 2026)
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Total cash: $30 million

2028
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $31.9 million ($7 million fully guaranteed in March 2027)
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Total cash: $33 million

2029
Workout bonus: $500,000
Base salary: $43.316 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Total cash: $44.816 million

Yearly salary cap breakdown for the Ja’Marr Chase contract

The contract includes a pair of void years, allowing the team to push $5 million of the $161 million of cap hits from the contract into league years after the end of the contract in 2030 and 2031.

Putting all that together, the cap hits for the contract, and where those cap hits come from, are as follows:

2025
Signing bonus proration: $4.4 million
Roster bonus: $10 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $8.07 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Cap hit: $23.57 million

2026
Signing bonus proration: $4.4 million
Option bonus proration: $3 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $17.73 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Cap hit: $26.23 million

2027
2025 signing bonus proration: $4.4 million
2026 option bonus proration: $3 million
2027 option bonus proration: $1 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $23.9 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Cap hit: $33.4 million

2028
2025 signing bonus proration: $4.4 million
2026 option bonus proration: $3 million
2027 option bonus proration: $1 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $31.9 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Cap hit: $41.4 million

2029
2025 signing bonus proration: $4.4 million
2026 option bonus proration: $3 million
2027 option bonus proration: $1 million
Workout bonus: $100,000
Base salary: $43.316 million
Per-game roster bonuses: Up to $1 million

Cap hit: $53.216 million

2030 - VOID YEAR
2026 option bonus proration: $3 million
2027 option bonus proration: $1 million

Cap hit: $5 million if not re-signed
Note: Includes $1 million accelerated from 2031

2031 - VOID YEAR
2027 option bonus proration: $1 million

Cap hit: $1 million if not re-signed
Note: Accelerates to 2030 if not re-signed before 2030 league year opens

What is the Ja’Marr Chase contract average from beginning to end?

Astute readers will, of course, notice that the contract covers five seasons, even though it was announced as a four-year, $161 million deal. That is, of course, due to the fact that the record-breaking four-year portion of the contract that makes Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL starts in 2026, with the 2025 season covered by his fifth-year option. So, for those fans who might feel that $40.25 million is too much for a player who isn’t under center, adding the $21.8 million fifth-year option onto the four years of the contract, Chase is signed for five years at a total of $182.8 million or an average of $36.56 million over the life of the contract.

What are the guarantees in the Ja’Marr Chase contract?

Over the life of the contract, Chase has $109.8 million in total guarantees, of which $73.8 million was fully guaranteed at signing. The remaining guarantees are scheduled to vest into full guarantees as follows in what are called rolling guarantees:

• Fifth day of the 2026 league year: $23.9 million 2027 base salary, $5 million 2027 option bonus, $1 million per-game roster bonuses for 2026, $100,000 workout bonus for 2026
• Fifth day of the 2027 league year: $7 million of 2028 base salary

The purpose of the rolling guarantees is two-fold. From the team perspective, it allows the Bengals to provide Chase with additional guarantees in the contract without having to deposit extra cash into escrow to satisfy the funding rule. With his $15 million option bonus fully guaranteed at signing, Cincinnati is not going to release him in 2026 prior to paying that bonus and take on a dead cap charge of more than $50 million for that season.

However, with $32.73 million of guarantees in the 2026 season, the funding rule, which allows the league to require teams to have fully guaranteed money in contracts for future league years on deposit in escrow, would require at least a portion of those 2026 guarantees to be deposited. However, once the 2026 league year begins, those guarantees become fully guaranteed in the current league year, which are not subject to the funding rule, allowing the money that is already on deposit in escrow to then cover the $30 million of 2027 guarantees that vest in March of 2026.

Piecing everything together, overall, it’s a contract that should keep Chase in Cincinnati for several years, which should keep Joe Burrow happy, which is the most important part of the deal.