Bengals Face Difficult Path Ahead as Efforts to Extend Young Stars Continue

While the Bengals have great respect for their young corners, extending them presents a unique challenge for the front office.

Oct 16, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II (20) gestures toward his bench as he walks off the field with an apparent injury against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the third quarter at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

While the Bengals did what was needed and injected veteran talent onto the defense this offseason, they now face an uphill battle when it comes to keeping their young cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill under contract longterm.

This is something that Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn touched on during a recent interview with local Cincinnati media. While Blackburn acknowledged that the organization has great respect for both Turner and Hill, she also acknowledged that they have their work cut out for them when it comes to keeping them in stripes

“It’s something that we’ll have to work through,” Blackburn said. “Love those guys. Love DJ, love Dax, and we obviously have our work cut out for us as to how to try to figure out how to retain them while we have the other commitments that we have. That’s just something we’re going to have to work through, but obviously we love those guys, and we’ll explore what we can to see where we end up.”

DJ Turner Will Inevitably Be Expensive

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II (20) forces an incomplete pass intended for Green Bay Packers wide receiver Romeo Doubs (87) during the first quarter of their game Sunday, October 12, 2025 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Turner and Hill both enjoyed breakout campaigns at corner in 2025 where they emerged as cornerstone pieces at the position. Turner though, enjoyed by far the more remarkable season of the two as he looked the part of a corner that could become one of the best in the NFL and is slated to be compensated as such.

Overall last season, Turner garnered a 78.1 Pro Football Focus coverage grade, ranking him sixth overall out of 114 eligible corners last season. What is arguably the more impressive stat for Turner from last season were is his 18 pass breakups ranking top five in the league.

Hill meanwhile still enjoyed a productive season in his own right with a 67.7 PFF coverage grade that ranked 36th overall in the league, and an impressive 11 passes defended.

While extending both Hill and Turner is the goal, it is much more realistic to believe that the Bengals will only be able to extend one, and allow the other to test free agency. After all their moves this offseason, they will be entering 2027 with five players having a $20 million plus cap hit in Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Boye Mafe, and Dexter Lawrence.

Keeping both young corners is possible, but it will be much easier said than done.

Make sure you check out Paul Dehner Jr's entire article about the interview here on The Athletic.

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