With four days left before the offseason window closes, the Bengals still don’t appear close to handing out a contract extension to any of their top candidates - even if Chase Brown looks like the best bet of the group.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler joined the First Word With James Rapien crew and laid out where things stand for Cincinnati’s possible extension decisions. His read was pretty blunt on DJ Turner II, and not much softer on the rest of the list.
“I don't sense much hope here,” Fowler said on the show. “DJ Turner was the one where I pretty much earmarked as a no-green-light here.
I don't expect the deal to happen for him based on a few factors. One is these cornerbacks are getting outrageous money now.
You have several guys that are well above $30 million per year. So if you're DJ Turner, who's an ascending player who could do really well in free agency, you're not going to take what many would consider a much more reasonable deal or a much lower deal than what that market would bear, and so it's sort of my understanding it's a non-starter unless something perks up in the next five days and Cincinnati gets aggressive.
"I don't expect a deal for him, so he'll play it out, and then you're looking at doing really well in free agency, or he could get the franchise tag, which Cincinnati has done in the past. I think the tag for corners would be about $23 million, which is pretty reasonable in this climate.
You know, they've done it with Jesse Bates, another star defensive back who was up and coming. He had to play through the tag, so it seems like that could be a similar script for Turner."
Cincinnati didn’t use the franchise tag this offseason, but that could be coming down the road. Fowler suggested it may end up in play next year for Brown, Turner, or Dax Hill if Hill turns in a big 2026 season.
Brown is the name that keeps coming up as the most realistic extension candidate, mostly because the running back market is in a different place than some of the pricier positions. The top number there is $22.5 million for Jahmyr Gibbs, but Fowler said it would be difficult for Brown to land that kind of money from a team in free agency.
Still, even with Brown looking like the likeliest candidate, Fowler doesn’t expect Cincinnati to push anything across the finish line in the final days.
“I haven't heard of anything hard and fast about an extension for some of those players, but they're certainly workable if Cincinnati wants to get aggressive here,” Fowler concluded. “Chase Brown, who I think will have a big year, and the running back money is a little more reasonable than some of these other positions.
So yeah, he's certainly a player that I had on my list, at least as somebody who could get an extension at some point. Myles Murphy's in an interesting spot where they didn't pick up his fifth-year option, but he's a year away from free agency now.
Had a good camp from all indications.
"So certainly, defensive linemen are the kind of guys you want to keep in the fold and try to pay. So Cincinnati can be patient here.
You can play it out, see how things go. This is a big year.
Nobody disputes that. They have a lot on the table here that they got to figure out.
After a few down years, there's no reason to have to overreact and pay players now.”
Fowler also pointed to Myles Murphy as another interesting case. Cincinnati declined his fifth-year option, but he’s now just a year from free agency and, according to Fowler, had a strong camp.
For now, the message is clear: the Bengals have options, but no obvious urgency. They can wait, see how the season unfolds, and decide later whether Turner, Brown, Hill, or Murphy becomes the one worth paying.
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