DJ Ivey has already beaten the odds once. Now he’s chasing something bigger: a real, lasting role in the Bengals’ secondary.
The Cincinnati cornerback enters the 2026 season at 26, standing 6-foot-1 and weighing 192 pounds, with three years of experience behind him. He came out of Miami (FL), where he was a five-year starter, and the Bengals took him in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft with the 246th overall pick.
His rookie deal is in its final season, and he’s set to make a base salary of $1.145 million with a cap hit of about $1.17 million. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent after the 2026 season.
For a seventh-round pick, just making the roster can be the first victory. Ivey did that as a rookie, giving Cincinnati the kind of outside cornerback traits teams like to bet on: size, length and athleticism. The Bengals saw enough to develop him, and for a while it looked like that investment was starting to pay off.
Then came the knee injury. During the 2023 season, when his role was beginning to grow, Ivey tore his ACL and missed the rest of the year.
The setback could have swallowed his momentum. Instead, he spent much of the following season grinding back to full strength and kept moving forward.
By 2025, he was back in every game, giving the Bengals depth in the secondary and adding value on special teams. His defensive workload stayed limited, but he still finished with 12 tackles and three passes defended, signs that he was ready when called upon.
That’s the part of Ivey’s profile that matters now. Cincinnati has loaded up on defense, and the cornerback room is crowded.
But in the NFL, that room never stays full for long. Injuries happen, snaps open up, and teams lean on the corners they trust.
Ivey has to be one of those players now. He’s already shown he can fight back from a serious injury and stick around. The next step is proving he can do more than survive on the margins.
If he keeps building on the progress he’s shown since returning, there’s a path to a bigger defensive role and continued importance on special teams. But the margin for error is thin, especially with Ceyair Wright, Bralyn Lux and Ja’Sir Taylor also in the mix for roster spots. A strong camp and preseason aren’t just important for Ivey - they’re necessary if he wants to stay on the Bengals’ 53-man roster.
In Other News...
Dexter Lawrence Is Already Changing The Bengals Defense
The Bengals paid a steep price to bring Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati, sending the 10th overall pick the other way, and early signs suggest they were betting on more than just size and power in the middle of the defense. Lawrence has quickly become the kind of presence that changes the tone of a room, and defensive lineman Myles Murphy said he has been sharing knowledge with the defensive tackles while helping the entire line sharpen its approach.
For Cincinnati, that matters as much as anything Lawrence does on the field. The Bengals needed impact up front, but they also needed someone who could raise the standard for a young group, and Lawrence is already doing both by leading physically and mentally. If that influence keeps spreading, the defense may end up getting far more than a disruptive interior lineman in the deal. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bengals Starter Closes The Book On A Bittersweet Era
Hakeem Adeniji is closing the book on an NFL career that took him from Cincinnati to Dallas and Minnesota, with one final stop in Baltimore that never arrived. The former Bengals offensive lineman, who started in Super Bowl LVI and spent three seasons with Cincinnati, is retiring after five seasons in the league.
Adeniji's path was a familiar one for a mid-round lineman: earn a role, move around, and keep finding ways to stay in the conversation. He finished with 55 regular-season appearances, including nine for the Bengals, leaving behind a career that had both the grind and the payoff that come with surviving in the trenches. [Read more 🡒]