The Cincinnati Bengals have two cornerbacks eligible for extensions this offseason in Dax Hill and DJ Turner II. They want to extend both.
Not just one, both of them.
The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway reports Cincinnati has plans to extend both of its starting cornerbacks later this offseason.
“The Bengals haven’t started negotiations with cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill yet, but the franchise has made it clear that both players are in their plans for the future. . .Because of Hill’s and Turner’s performances in the 2025 season, they’ve become a strength of Cincinnati’s defense. The franchise hopes to build around their outside cornerbacks, and giving them new deals is the first step in ensuring it happens.” — The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway
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Extending both Hill and Turner is now firmly the expectation, and letting just one start the 2026 regular season without a new contract should be considered falling below the bar.
It helps that both players are represented by the same agent, Andrew Kessler of Athletes First, so they can simultaneously negotiate both contracts at the same time like they did with wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins last year.
This will become more pressing as the offseason progresses after the 2026 NFL Draft, but the draft itself also sounds like a time in which Cincinnati will focus on Hill and Turner’s position.
Bengals will still target a cornerback early in 2026 NFL Draft
Even with both starter’s locked in for the upcoming season, the Bengals aren’t satisfied with the cornerback room as a whole. Depth behind Hill and Turner is less than ideal, and competition for nickelback Jalen Davis would be welcomed.
It’s why drafting corner is very much in play with one of Cincy’s first few picks in April’s draft.
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“The Bengals are aware they need to add more to the cornerback room, especially after Marco Wilson signed with the Miami Dolphins, so expect the team to target a cornerback on Day 1 or 2 of the NFL Draft.” — The Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway
How the draft unfolds may impact negotiations with Hill and Turner down the road. If the Bengals draft a corner with their first-round pick, like Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy, the urgency to extend both players may be turned down a notch considering the high investment in a top-10 pick.
It shouldn’t change the goal, but it may make it an easier pill to swallow for the front office if one of the two decline its offer.
Bolstering cornerback depth is never a bad idea. Hill and Turner stayed healthy for all of 2025, but an injury to either of them would put the defense in a bind without a capable backup to play significant snaps. Cincinnati can find that within the first three rounds of the draft.
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What the Bengals should do at cornerback
Extending both Hill and Turner the same way Chase and Higgins signed deals together needs to happen. They are foundational pieces to a defense that needs both of them, and letting either of them walk needlessly opens up a roster hole.
A rookie can fill it in time, but the team would be better off with both players locked in for the long-term with a new young player developing alongside them and finding playing time naturally.
Fortify the room with a good rookie, and sign both starters to multi-year extensions. That’s a lofty goal for Cincinnati, but it’s the best path forward.
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This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Mar 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.