A cryptic Tweet by Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase is fueling speculation about a big move coming—including the possibility of trading for Minnesota Vikings All-Pro WR Justin Jefferson. Up and Adams host Kay Adams gleefully fueled that particular speculation in reaction to Chase’s Tweet.
He wrote on Twitter, “this will be a krazy story to tell”, which can just as easily be about getting his hand stuck in a beehive. But the fact that Bengals WR Tee Higgins reportedly requested a trade lends some credence to the notion.
Higgins, reportedly, is hearing nothing from the Bengals after they placed the franchise tag on him. He wants to work out a long-term contract, but they aren’t having those conversations. Jefferson is playing in his fifth-year-option season and the Vikings’ quarterback is currently Sam Darnold. Trading Higgins and other compensation for Jefferson at least enters the realm of plausibility somewhere along the way.
NFL teams have only increasingly shown their willingness to make bold moves. We’ve seen some catastrophically bad quarterback trades in recent years, for example, but they won’t stop. Players also increasingly feel empowered to demand their own trades—as the Pittsburgh Steelers know well.
There is the personal connection to consider. Jefferson and Chase played together at LSU—with Bengals QB Joe Burrow. Jefferson and Burrow still hang out as friends. Adams shared a snippet of an interview she conducted with Jefferson in which he declined to answer a question about whether he talks to Burrow about playing together in the NFL one day.
Odds are the “krazy story” has nothing to do with Jefferson, though it could relate to Higgins. Perhaps he and the Bengals manage to work out a long-term extension after all. However, the Bengals are obviously in all-in mode, especially coming out of a wasted season due to Burrow’s injury.
Cincinnati reached at least the conference finals two years in a row in 2021-22, doubling their all-time franchise postseason win total in the process from 5 to 10. During the 2021 season, they came within a minute of defeating the Los Angeles Rams for the championship. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs stopped them in 2022 in the conference finals, however. The Chiefs have won every Super Bowl since then, so there’s no shame in that.
The theoretical pairing of Chase and Jefferson could rival some of the greats in NFL history. Jefferson managed 1,074 yards in 2023 while playing in just nine games due to injury. The year before that, he produced 1,809 receiving yards on 128 receptions with 8 touchdowns. He averages 98.3 receiving yards per game over his career, which is by far an NFL record. Calvin Johnson is in second place at 86.1 yards per game. Antonio Brown is in third place, while Chase is in fourth place, so you do the math.
