![\"Oct](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_21621802-scaled.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOct 8, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy (99) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Everything\u2019s on the table for Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy. NFL.com\u2019s Nick Shook believes this all-important year will lead him to leaving the Queen City.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOct 8, 2023; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy (99) against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
Everything\u2019s on the table for Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy.<\/p>\n
Murphy is now entering a contract season after the Bengals declined to exercise his fifth-year option<\/a>. The move would\u2019ve locked in the former first-round pick for the 2027 season at a price of $14.475 million in guaranteed money. Instead, the 24-year old could be playing for a much larger pay day next season.<\/p>\n The odds of that pay day coming in Cincinnati, however, dropped following the fifth-year option deadline three weeks ago. <\/p>\n Myles Murphy\u2019s future comes into question by NFL writer<\/p>\n The good news for Murphy, and the Bengals, is playing out a contract year has a good chance of motivating Murphy into producing his best season as a pro.<\/p>\n The bad news is it could lead to his leaving Cincinnati for another club looking to entice him with a lucrative contract.<\/p>\n NFL.com\u2019s Nick Shook<\/a> writes Murphy, whom he picked as a \u201cmake-or-break\u201d player this season, is more likely to move on next year.<\/p>\n This is where Murphy needs to strike. The former Clemson standout didn\u2019t see any starts until the 2025 season, racking up 10 of them in 17 games played. He logged a career-best 52 tackles (six for loss) and 5.5 sacks, offering a glimpse of what could be moving forward. Murphy\u2019s Year 3 jump in production wasn\u2019t enough to convince the Bengals to pick up his fifth-year option, making for a natural prove-it season in a contract year. As it stands now, his future probably isn\u2019t in Cincinnati, unless his rate of compensation fits nicely into the Bengals\u2019 bigger financial picture. But he will sign a second contract\u00a0somewhere, and now is the time to earn that money.<\/p>\n Nick Shook<\/p>\n Around The NFL Writer<\/p>\n Bengals need a perfect storm to retain Murphy<\/p>\n Cincinnati has already sent a message to Murphy. Not that it doesn\u2019t value him in the short or long-term, but the price to keep him on the roster next year was not one it was willing to pay a year ahead of time. Murphy did say he has hopes for staying with the Bengals long-term.<\/p>\n \u201cVery hopeful,\u201d Murphy told Andrew Fox Miller of Cincinnati Bengals Talk earlier this month<\/a>. \u201cI love the city. They love me, and that\u2019s all a player can ask for. Security, and just knowing that you\u2019re wanted. And I really do appreciate that. I appreciate everyone in the organization and my teammates and coaches.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s the old adage that an NFL team can\u2019t pay every one of its good players. The salary cap can be manipulated, but not infinitely. The Bengals are notoriously subpar at making the cap work for them instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n Murphy playing well enough in 2026 to earn a major second contract would all but seal his fate. If not even $15 million in cap and cash was too much for Cincy to stomach, a much higher price isn\u2019t likely to intrigue them. <\/p>\n The Bengals will want Murphy to remain affordable (to their standards) while also being worth extending for multiple years. They\u2019d want a scenario in which his market won\u2019t be so hot, and he\u2019d accept their style of offer instead of a deal from a more desperate club.<\/p>\n The simpler solution <\/p>\n Cincinnati shouldn\u2019t let Murphy start this season without accepting a multi-year extension. If he\u2019s in the plans beyond 2026, then hammer out the contract now. Don\u2019t let him enhance his value to 31 other teams. Pass rushers go quickly and end up very expensive 0n the open market. <\/p>\n Signing a deal before the season, of course, would no longer make Murphy a \u201cmake-or-break\u201d name entering the fall. It would ensure the Bengals keep a starter locked in for the next few years at a price they\u2019re comfortable with.<\/p>\n Finding that price is easier said than done, which is why exercising the fifth-year option was the expectation. This is tricky situation Cincy finds itself in now, and for Murphy, the opportunity in front of him is as intriguing as can be.<\/p>\n \t\t\t Cincinnati Bengals News<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is taking note of the team\u2019s newest pieces on defense, and has encouraging words for one starter who\u2019s entering a critical year.<\/p>\n Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> Myles Murphy<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Everything\u2019s on the table for Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Myles Murphy. NFL.com\u2019s Nick Shook believes this all-important year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":900406,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,4672,6],"class_list":["post-900405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-bengals","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cincinnatibengals","tag-football","tag-myles-murphy","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116632395974514085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/900406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cincinnati](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/USATSI_26363649-200x200.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJoe Burrow is already noticing great things from the Bengals\u2019 new defense he hasn\u2019t even practiced against them yet\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n