Bengals CB DJ Turner optimistic about an extension before Week 1

The Cincinnati Bengals’ cornerback room is entering the next phase of the offseason with contract negotiations at the center of the conversation. According to Pro Football Rumors, the team is prioritizing new deals for CB DJ Turner II and CB Dax Hill, and Turner is said to be “real hopeful” that an agreement can be reached before the regular season gets underway. At a time when teams often wait until training camp to settle, Turner’s optimism is at least a report that both sides are trying to move quickly.

Turner’s stance matters because his rookie contract is entering its final year. Turned into a starter more than once in his first two professional seasons, the Bengals drafted Turner in the second round of the 2023 NFL Draft, and his standard rookie timeline means he would be walking into free agency discussions after the 2026 season unless a new deal is reached. Pro Football Rumors also reports Turner had stayed away from voluntary spring work, training elsewhere while maintaining constant contact with head coach Zac Taylor, before returning to the building for OTAs. After a Tuesday OTA, Turner said he was “real hopeful” and added that being around the team and meeting defensive additions were part of why he wanted to be back early.

Hill’s situation is different in structure, but not in importance. The Bengals exercised Hill’s fifth-year option for the 2026 season, which keeps him under team control for one more year as he continues his role evolution from earlier seasons. Bengals team materials note Hill was Cincinnati’s first-round draft choice in 2022, transitioned from safety to cornerback, and was placed after a season-ending injury during 2024. With the fifth-year option already locked, the extension question now becomes whether Cincinnati wants to convert that controlled year into long-term security for its back end.

Pro Football Rumors frames the urgency as a blend of football and business. The piece argues it makes sense for a team with recent defensive struggles to retain a talented starting cornerback tandem, even as the Bengals’ overall roster-building costs remain substantial. It also describes the challenge of keeping both Turner and Hill while managing cap charges already tied to key players and the additional spending that comes with trying to fix the defense in-season and heading into the next year. In short, extension talks are not occurring in a vacuum, and Cincinnati’s approach will reveal how it wants to balance near-term performance with long-term flexibility.

The market backdrop is another pressure point. Pro Football Rumors notes that the top of the cornerback market is currently set by Trent McDuffie’s $31 million average annual value, and it suggests Turner is targeting an annual value of at least $20.1 million, which would be a significant step up from the $3.76 million salary he is due in 2026. The report also links those dollars to recent production, pointing to Turner’s 2025 workload and impact, including a career-high 89% snap share, two interceptions, and 18 pass deflections. Pro Football Rumors further says PFF rated Turner as the fourth-best cover corner in the NFL last season, emphasizing that this is not simply a “name-value” extension conversation.

What to watch next is how quickly discussions produce structure that both sides can accept. If an extension is completed before training camp, it could stabilize Cincinnati’s defensive backfield planning and reduce the likelihood of contract uncertainty becoming a distraction. If not, Turner and Hill will still enter the season with football continuity already at stake, since both are expected to matter in the starting rotation. Either way, this is the sort of offseason move that often shapes a team’s priorities for the rest of the year, because paying for cornerback play can limit what a club has available to address other positions.