So many eyes will be on the Cincinnati Bengals this summer during the lead up to the regular season. It's been four years since the team won a game in the first two weeks of the given season, and losing those games in the last two years greatly impacted missing the playoffs in the last two years.
For as long as Ted Karras has been on the team, there have been slow starts that follow contract drama-filled training camps. Jessie Bates was away from the team in 2022 after receiving the franchise tag. Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins practiced throughout camp in 2023 but negotiations hung over their heads. Ja'Marr Chase held in from practicing in 2024 and didn't even sign on the dotted line right before the season.
Karras is happy that isn't going to be the case this year.
While appearing as a guest on the Pat McAfee Show Friday afternoon, Karras noted that Chase and Higgins getting their deals done this month is huge as any distraction with those two won't trickle into camp. The 32-year old said contract drama isn't always a team-wide issue, but it can feel that way if it drags on too long.
"I think it's going to be a huge plus that we're not having like the hold in with Ja'Marr, so there's not that periphery distraction," Karras said. "Overall. it's not a big deal, I would say, in an NFL locker room, but it can when, it builds up like that, it can be a negative."
While Chase withholding himself from practicing did not prohibit him from having the best year of his career, it did force the Bengals to adapt during the grueling days of training camp.
That matters when you're trying to play like a winning team right out of the gate. The Bengals did no such thing for the first three weeks of the season.
Hearing this from Karras, one of the leaders of the offense, should make Cincinnati's front office happy with locking up Chase and Higgins. The best players on that side of the ball are all taken care of.
That's not yet true for the unit Karras goes up against during practice, and the powers that be need to rectify that.
Trey Hendrickson remains looking for a long-term extension with the Bengals and will likely refrain from practicing and training with the team until he gets the deal he wants. For a defense with so much to prove under a new coordinator in Al Golden, practicing any amount of time without its undeniably best player is far from ideal and would eventually become a distraction.
A distraction the Bengals should work very hard to avoid.
The last thing Cincinnati needs is for Karras' soundbite to bite him in the behind six months from now. The Bengals are so close to putting any and all contract dilemmas behind them for the year.
Getting Hendrickson done will ensure Karras' words become factual in time.
