Latest Bengals training camp drama is good news for the Browns

Cleveland Browns fans enjoyed watching the Cincinnati Bengals finish last in the AFC North a season ago, especially after the Bengals had reached the AFC Championship Game in back-to-back seasons before last year. This whole Bengals resurgence thing hasn't been fun and Ja'Marr Chase is partially to blame for the Bengals' success over the past three years.

Fortunately, Chase wants a new contract and he's making that known to his team. According to Ben Baby of ESPN, Chase was a no-show at Bengals practice on Tuesday.

"For the first time in training camp, Chase was not present when the team was practicing. The fourth-year player had not been participating at practice as he awaits a contract extension, but had remained visible and involved during drills.

However, that changed Tuesday."

Baby notes in the article that Bengals president Mike Brown said that it was unlikely a deal would happen before training camp.

"I'm not going to rule anything out," Brown said. "But I will tell you that the die has probably been cast."

Browns fans hope that Ja'Marr Chase continues to be absent at Bengals training camp

Ultimately, Chase likely comes around before the start of the season but it's nice to see Bengals fans squirming a little bit and having to suffer through some drama. The Bengals were lucky to have Chase, Tee Higgins, and Joe Burrow all on rookie contracts for a few years but that ship is sailing. Burrow got paid handsomely at the start of last season, Higgins is likely entering his final year after having contract drama of his own, and now it's Chase's turn.

The more drama that the Bengals have to go through, the better. The AFC North is the toughest division in the league so if Cincinnati didn't have Chase (or even had him but he was an unhappy Chase), that'd be an advantage for Cleveland as the Browns look to replicate the season they had a season ago.

James Rapien of Sports Illustrated likely nailed it on the head with what's going to happen between the two sides.

"The Bengals are probably hoping to wait until next year OR sign Chase to a four-year extension. That would put him under contract for the next six seasons, which would not only align with Joe Burrow's current deal, but it would allow them to spread out the money over another season. 

That's the play the Bengals should make if they're hoping to reach an agreement with Chase this offseason. He loves it in Cincinnati and obviously wants to keep playing with Burrow."

It hasn't been fun watching the Bengals be a competent organization and it's just another obstacle that Cleveland has to deal with in a stacked AFC North. Let's hope Chase continues his holdout and decides to be really ballsy and not show up at all this season. Don't get your hopes up too much on that happening though.