Joe Burrow's season might have ended weeks ago. But his advocacy for teammates to get paid has carried into a very important offseason.
On Thursday night, the Cincinnati Bengals quarterback was interviewed at the Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, Florida, and asked about wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, who will be seeking a big contract extension for the second straight year.
During the season, Burrow was very vocal in his desire to see the team's core players such as Chase and wide receiver Tee Higgins be compensated accordingly. He reiterated that point when asked about Chase during the ESPN telecast.
"Week in and week out, he continues to make unbelievable plays, makes people miss, scores 50-plus-yard touchdowns," Burrow said when asked about Chase. "I mean, I don't know what more he could do to show and prove himself.
"We have several guys like that who have stepped up for us and deserve to be paid, and deserve to be paid what they're worth."
Within the past 12 months, Chase, Higgins and defensive end Trey Hendrickson have expressed the desire to receive contract extensions that reflect their performance. While all three requests failed to yield new deals, each player had a big season.
Chase won the receiving triple crown (most yards, touchdowns and catches) and set the franchise records for most receiving yards and catches in a single season. Hendrickson was the NFL's sack leader. Higgins missed five games with injuries, but finished 10th in receiving yards per game.
Chase and Hendrickson earned Associated Press first-team All-Pro honors, the first Bengals players since 2015 to receive that recognition. They also joined Burrow in representing Cincinnati at this weekend's Pro Bowl Games in Orlando.
More honors could be headed their way. Burrow and Chase are finalists for Offensive Player of the Year. Hendrickson is a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year. Burrow is also a finalist for Comeback Player of the Year and MVP.
At the Senior Bowl, Bengals director for player personnel Duke Tobin was asked about Chase's contract status and said it was a priority.
"We believe in Ja'Marr," Tobin told the Cincinnati Enquirer this week. "He's very important to us. The other guys that have done contracts are very important to their teams. So, we believe there's a real framework to work off of. I would expect that we could come together on something that makes sense for both sides."
This offseason will be pivotal for a franchise that went from back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances to missing the playoffs in two straight years.
"We would have liked to have more wins, for sure," Burrow told ESPN. "A lot of individual success. Not as much team success as we would have liked, too. We have some things that we have to get ironed out this offseason to put ourselves in a better position at the end of the year."