Nobody loves a superstar trade rumor more than Rams GM Les Snead
If you’re a fan who is excited about the fact that the L.A. Rams have all of their first round picks, then the last seven words you want to hear are: “Ja’Marr Chase is on the trade block”.
There is no “trade block” until the season is over, so there’s no possible way that the Cincinnati Bengals could be open to trading Chase right now, but SI’s Matt Verderame addressed the possibility that the star receiver without a long-term contract could be dealt for multiple first round picks in 2025.
My immediate thought to the idea of Chase being on the trade block was wondering whether Les Snead would use a cell phone or a landline to be the first GM to make an offer of two first and two second round picks.
Of the half-dozen front-office personnel and general managers I’ve spoken with around the league, almost all believe Cincinnati would either get a deal equivalent to or likely exceeding what the Kansas City Chiefs got when they traded Tyreek Hill in March 2022.
“I would think so,” says a prominent NFC talent evaluator. “He’s a better overall player and I would guess less baggage and younger at the time of the trade.”
But is it realistic that the Bengals would trade Chase, either the best or second-best receiver in the NFL, before his 25th birthday?
That’s probably the side of this that most fans will disagree with because the Bengals can afford Chase, Joe Burrow probably needs Chase, and Cincinnati could get five extra first round picks and still not get another player as good as Chase.
However, the Bengals had months when they could have already extended Chase and they haven’t been able to come to an agreement which probably signals that he’s waiting to get more than the $35 million per season and $110 million guaranteed that the Minnesota Vikings gave to Justin Jefferson.
The Bengals have one of, if not the cheapest owner in the NFL when it comes to guaranteeing future salaries, so while exploring the possibility of a Ja’Marr Chase trade is a little early, it isn’t clickbait either.
Why trade Ja’Marr Chase
I won’t re-hash what Verderame already wrote in the article, but here’s the gist for what the Bengals could do with their top-two receivers:
- Re-sign Tee Higgins and extend Ja’Marr Chase (this would be putting about $100-$120 million per year into three players: Burrow, Higgins, and Chase, which is partly why the Bengals are currently 4-8; they’re top-heavy)
- Extend Chase, lose Higgins in free agency
- Extend Chase, tag Higgins for a second time (making him way over-priced and even diminishing his trade value)
- Re-sign Higgins, trade Chase
The last option is the only one that ends up with the Bengals getting back multiple value draft picks while still keeping one of their top two receivers and not breaking the bank.
The first option means that Cincinnati continues to have a dominant passing offense, but if any one of those three players gets injured then the Bengals become one of the worst teams in the NFL. They’re already one of the worst teams in the NFL.
This is also why the Bengals should have drafted Penei Sewell instead of Chase. There’s a reason that the Lions couldn’t wait to give Sewell a massive contract extension while Cincinnati is still mulling its options with Chase:
As the Chiefs can attest to, teams can still win games without elite (or even good) wide receivers and the Bengals could come out of this with Burrow, Higgins, and having multiple first round picks in the next couple of drafts.
But also, they really shouldn’t trade Ja’Marr Chase
Don’t get me wrong: This is Ja’Marr Chase!
Chase leads the NFL in yards (1,142) and touchdowns (13) and he’s more responsible for Joe Burrow’s success than Joe Burrow is.
The Bengals could be making the worst move in their recent history by trading Chase, but it is the Bengals so we can’t rule that out.
Why would the Rams want Ja’Marr Chase?
Is this a serious question?
Would the Rams really trade for Ja’Marr Chase?
Is this a serious question?
What would it take to trade for Ja’Marr Chase?
Money isn’t an issue for the Rams. They’re more than happy to pay him the guaranteed money he wants and the highest salary for a receiver in the NFL. The Rams have plenty of future cap space and would be able to extend Chase with enough left over to extend Puka Nacua when he’s up for a new deal in 2026.
“What about a quarterback?”
I wonder if Sean McVay would really care as much about a quarterback if he has Chase, Nacua, and Sean McVay. And Matthew Stafford might have a hell of a rebound in 2025 if the Rams were able to add Chase to their roster.
If Stafford retires in 2025 or 2026, Jimmy Garoppolo went to a Super Bowl with the 49ers, is he good enough to go to a Super Bowl with a supporting cast like this one if it came together this way?
The Rams have always operated with short-term goals in mind, so the premise of trading for Chase is only wild because he’s such an elite player. It’s not ridiculous because of the Rams. The Rams being involved in Chase trade talks would be assumed, not insane.
Trade Compensation Talk
The Rams don’t have a 2025 second round pick because of the Braden Fiske trade, but Snead has his first rounders in 2025, 2026, 2027, and 2028, which I think is the latest a team is able to trade its draft picks.
They do have an extra third rounder in 2025 as compensation for losing Raheem Morris.
First round picks in 2025 and 2026, third round picks in 2025 and 2026, could be the kind of package that Cincinnati would be looking for in return for Chase. And if the Rams end up losing more games than they win, their first round pick should be somewhere in the top-15.
Without getting too much into the weeds here, the possibility of sending Cooper Kupp back to the Bengals in the deal would offset some of the cash they need to pay Chase and would mean that Joe Burrow still has two high-end starting receivers next season while Cincinnati rebuilds its offensive line and defense. Kupp could also replace a day two draft pick going back to the Bengals to help offset some of what L.A. would be losing here.
Will the Bengals trade Ja’Marr Chase?
Probably not. Just the fact that we’re going to get to 2025 with him unsigned though is all but guaranteed to start the rumor mill until he is extended and the Los Angeles Rams are going to be one of the main players in those discussions if the Bengals let him linger.