Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Why DJ Turner Is the Bengals’ MUST-EXTEND Corner—Just How Good Is He?

Starting point is 00:00:00 DJ Turner is absolutely a priority for the Cincinnati Bengals heading into training camp. And is he a top 15 quarter in the NFL? We're going to break down the case for why he is in today's episode of Lockdown Bengals. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. He's Joe Goodberry. I'm Jake Lisco.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Today we are discussing DJ Turner. All things, DJ Turner. What does a contract extension look like for DJ Turner? How does it affect the Bengals salary cap situation in the future? How good is DJ Turner? That's where we start the conversation because it's very easy to make an argument that DJ Turner is certainly a top 15 corner in the NFL and that ranking could get even higher pretty easily.

Starting point is 00:00:58 That is an argument that we will make in this episode of Lockdown Bengals that is brought to you by Odu. Great organizations went because. operations matter. That's why you should get O-DU. Try for free at O-D-O-O-D-com slash lockdown. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-com slash lockdown. And Joe, in this episode in which we will be focused on DJ Turner from start to finish,

Starting point is 00:01:20 we're first going to have to make an argument for how good DJ Turner is. And I think this is a question that at least some Bengals fans have that weren't necessarily watching the cornerback position very closely or are just wondering how he fits into the landscape in the NFL. where cornerbacks are getting paid right now. The cornerback market nearing a high water mark when you look across the league. Now, so Dion Sanders out there that are getting paid, you know, 5% more in terms of like 50% more, really, when you compare him to his peers at the time.

Starting point is 00:01:54 But corners right now are eating good in the NFL. Yeah, it's important that you bring up the money part of it because you're right, the contracts are getting bigger at corner. not just dollar per dollar. It's the percentage that's going up. But also, when you see the things like DJ Turner's agent have kind of a cryptic Instagram post, not so cryptic, like he's like, hey, cornerback money, right? The cornerback number one money.

Starting point is 00:02:19 Does that mean like a top 10, top five type corner? And if DJ Turner is getting paid or at least if that's the asking price, and we're speculating, we don't know that. But these are the questions that start to, you go, hey, how good is DJ Turner? Is he worth a cornerback one paycheck? Is he worth cornerback top five, top 10, top 15? I think we can make that argument pretty easily that he is top 15. So we're going to talk about his skill set, what he does, what he's good at,

Starting point is 00:02:48 where he ranked last year in a lot of different categories. And the reason we're doing this now, I can feel like people, if I'm regular Bengel fan Joe, me listening and going, he's good. What does it matter? Just pay him. I agree on the surface, yes. But once it starts to get to cornerback. one money and that potential to be paid like that,

Starting point is 00:03:06 that's the only time we really start to ask, well, how good is that player? Yeah, we're going to dig in later in the show to what the cap implications will be for the Bengals this year and next year where really more than ever in the Joe Burrow era, I think the Bengals are feeling the squeeze of the salary cap. And I think somewhat rightly so, I think that there will be mechanisms that we can talk about that there are some flexible maneuvers the Bengals could make if they're creative. But the reason that we ask the question is, as you said, Joe, if you're talking about $30 plus million dollars that three cornerbacks have cracked now in the NFL versus $25 million

Starting point is 00:03:44 per year, the potential implications that fall out from that as the Bengals are looking at more extension eligible guys down the road next year and in two years and all those things, those are the things that you have to consider when allocating big money to a player like DJ Turner. But for many reasons, it is very simple because DJ Turner is good. We're going to quantify just how good. But he's good and he's young and he's entering his prime. He'll turn 26 in November this year. So any extension that would involve DJ Turner probably locks up the remainder of his prime year.

Starting point is 00:04:22 Say it's three years. well, that's probably pretty ideal for team and player. Maybe you want him for four years if you're the Bengals and DJ Turner wants to get back to the market before he turns 30. And so that's where you land on three years potentially. Is that the direction the NFL is largely going. But let's talk about how good he was because the highlight real plays obviously stand out.

Starting point is 00:04:42 And you think about the Steelers game, taking the ball away from DK Metcalf on the sideline. Like the matchup that's not supposed to be good for 511, 180 pound on a good day, DJ, Turner taking the ball away from big, strong D.K. Metcalfe possession receiver who's supposed to dominate with his size and strength. That wasn't the case in that game. And that was part of the highlight reel on his way to racking up 13 pass breakups. So much ball production for DJ Turner as he was so close to it in his first couple years in the NFL. And then he turned that into

Starting point is 00:05:13 not so close, but actually making those plays in 2025. Yeah, that's right. So I'd like to start with the tape and the player evaluation, the skill set. DJ Turner coming out. out of Michigan second round pick. Wasn't the biggest guy. We all understand that. He's kind of on the thin side. And can at times, even this was evident on tape even in college, be boxed out a little bit to use a basketball term,

Starting point is 00:05:36 can deal with contact a little bit on the softer side because he's not the biggest guy. But I think he's gotten much better at that. So what he is is extremely fast and twitched up manned corner. Right. So when he's covering guys, his agility, his change of direction, his acceleration is on a high-end elite level plus the speed also. This is a guy that is probably the fastest player on the team.

Starting point is 00:05:59 I'd love to watch him in Jamar Chase race. I don't think we ever get to see these guys just line it up and go for it. But that would be my bet for the top two on the team. But DJ, that mix of athleticism and really good understanding of footwork, change of direction, leverage and man coverage. And honestly, as a press guy, he's not bad at all despite being on the smaller side. So I really like him in man coverage. and he's gotten so much better with his ball skills.

Starting point is 00:06:24 It was something that flashed a lot at Michigan. And I worried that first year, it's rookie season, while he had a bunch of flashes. There was a lot of plays. I did a film review of him just missing, just missing the timing or the physicality or not getting his hand on the ball. You brought up the 13 past breakups.

Starting point is 00:06:40 PFF had him for 16 forced incompletions. I saw another, I think poor football reference might have had him at 17 or was NFL.com, one of the two next gen stats. But so you get those numbers in there all within the top of the league, the 16 forced incompletions was second from PFF. So really good ball production from a guy that is really, really sticky in man coverage,

Starting point is 00:07:01 which we talked about all offseason when they hired Al Golden last year, that they're going to be a heavier man coverage team. I think the 10th highest rate in the league last year in man coverage, that means it's a pretty good fit for DJ Turner with El Golden. Yeah, and the past breakup production stands out very obviously when you watch his tape. and the stickiness, I think, also stands out very obviously when you watch DJ Turner's tape. And there are stats for this, like separation at the time of target. But they're, in my opinion, fledgling stats that are not very well fleshed out or super well understood or very easy to articulate exactly what they're telling you or exactly what that information even means.

Starting point is 00:07:43 It's also only telling you about targets. DJ Turner, when you just turn on the tape and watch how he might. moves with receivers, especially when he is in man coverage, like on the hip pocket. And that's been consistent for him since day one. This isn't new. It was just how many plays watching DJ Turner as a rookie is like, man, he is inches away from a pass breakout. And that was a recurring theme for DJ Turner as a rookie.

Starting point is 00:08:07 When he did, to his credit, have six pass breakups. He had those six pass breakups on 518 coverage snaps compared to the 13 past breakups that had in 2025 on 580 coverage snaps. So just a few more coverage snaps for DJ Turner, 60 or so, and doubles his pass breakups. So clearly from rookie season to 2025, developing a feel for the speed of the game and a feel for how he needs to attack the timing of those passes leading to more pass breakups. And I'm not saying that he's going to lead the league in pass breakups every year.

Starting point is 00:08:42 I don't think this is an incredibly sticky stat. But the one thing that I wanted to point out is we're talking about it, And we're talking about one of the stats here is he missed a lot of time in 2024, only had 508 total snaps, 329 coverage snaps. So a little bit more than half of the amount of coverage snaps that he had in 2025. And he had eight pass breakups last year, or in 2024 as well. So that trajectory did start in 2024 when you look at past breakups per coverage snap for DJ Turner, which I didn't do the math, but I would guess it's very similar in 2024 to 2025.

Starting point is 00:09:14 He also got a few more interceptions with the two. picks in 2025. And didn't he also have some force fumbles? He had two force fumbles as well last year, which is when you talk about guys, when we did the Daniel Jeremiah checklist, we talked about playmakers.

Starting point is 00:09:33 DJ Turner was the obvious guy in the secondary because of all that ball production. Yeah, no doubt. Getting your hands on the ball is key. Like we can take some missed plays. I think people remember like the Breeze Hall, HB option touchdown pass where DJ's got his back to it. And they end up, you know, I think it was Mason Taylor plucking it off the back of his head. If you're getting your hands on the ball, I can overlook these random plays.

Starting point is 00:09:57 Because these things happen to all of the defensive backs. It happens to defenders a lot. And that's why we say DBs and corners have to have like a short-term memory because they got to bounce back and make a play. And Turner did that a ton last year. So the question then becomes where does he stack up with the greats in the NFL right now as the tide for money is rising for corners. We'll continue the conversation there coming up next.

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Starting point is 00:11:29 His athleticism, his speed, his man coverage. I want to bring up some of the negatives after we talk about where he ranked last year. If you want to use PFF grades, for example, he was ranked 14th overall in defensive grade out of 77 corners. So this pretty much covers, you know, the top two and a half corners from every single team. his coverage grade was fourth overall at corner man coverage 11th overall zone coverage 29th overall his run defense was 74th and his tackling was 37 so 74th and run defense out of 77 so if you got to the question if the bangles have to do this every team kind of has

Starting point is 00:12:06 to do this when they get to negotiations where they're like hey DJ we love you but there is this one thing maybe we can save a million and a half dollars on this is why you're not this guy or that guy. This is why you're not top five or not top ten as much as we absolutely cherish you as a player. There's a case to be made that he is not a very good run defender. And largely we talk about Turner's size a lot. And sometimes the matchups, I'm glad you brought up the D.K. Matt-Kaff game because he had a great game and just a very physical play there. There are times Turner outplays his size. But I think over the course of the season, a ranking like this shows itself a little bit and says, hey, you know, he's really good at what he's good at.

Starting point is 00:12:45 But there is a concern about him in run defense. I'll also say that Derek Stingley is in the same boat. And he was six in PFF in most mistackles as a percentage basis of tackles attempted. He had 22% mistackle rate last year, did Derek Singly. Derek Singley's getting paid $30 million. J.C. Horn, who is, by consensus, a top 10 corner in the NFL had a 30% mistackle rate at the cornerback spot last year, which is, if you can believe it, he missed more tackles on a rate basis and Emmanuel Forbes,

Starting point is 00:13:18 who had 16 mistackles as well, but had many more attempts. Carrington, Valentine, Tariq, Wollin, Tradavius, White, the others in the top six that had a higher mistackle rate than Derek Singley. And to his credit, we don't have that level of an issue for DJ Turner. He's right in the middle of the pack for mistackle rate, 30. on this list from PFF. But the run defense element here is certainly missing. This is not a player like, think Camari Lasseter, Devin Witherspoon, these guys that

Starting point is 00:13:54 are incredibly physical, incredible run defenders that are pluses in the run defense game. And if you're looking for like the Bengals comparable, obviously Mike Hilton, recent history, not AJ, Leon Hall, another one in Bengals history, who was fantastic in that element. of his game. That's not going to be DJ Turner. He's not going to be that physical presence that's setting the edge in the run game or racking up stops. Camari Lassar had 33 stops last year.

Starting point is 00:14:22 Devin Wetherstone had 30 stops last year. And that includes run and pass game. But this is part of why Alante Taylor gets paid, right? Alante Taylor had 33 stops last year. And he turns that into, what was it, a $20 million per year contract at the Tennessee just outside the top 10. when you think about it that way the question j c horn that we we talked about is one of the top mistacklers as well 25 million dollars per year so i'm not sure how much that's really hurting

Starting point is 00:14:54 these guys when it comes time for these contracts to be figured out but if you were to slot him in joe are you making a top 10 argument for dj turner because i think that there's like the consensus that you've got guys like derrick singly and sauce gardner and pat sir tan in the top three I think. And then maybe, maybe Gardner is on the fringes there. Trent McDuffie is in that conversation. J.C. Horn seems to be in that conversation as well.

Starting point is 00:15:18 AJ Terrell in that conversation, depending on who you asked, Denzel Ward is still in that conversation for a lot of people. I think you can start to make an argument around there, but there's also like the Christian Benfords of the world that would have arguments to make as well. So where do you think he fits in to the top cornerback landscape? Yeah, and that's why I think top 10 is a tough argument.

Starting point is 00:15:41 I wonder on your opening how many people listening, leave it in the comments if you're on YouTube watching here. If you were like when Jake said top 15, that's top 15, of course he's top 15. Guys, there's a lot of corners in this league right now. And Jake rattled off a bunch just looking at the top 10 paid guys, Trent McDuffie, sauce gardener, Derek, Stenny, Jay C. J.C. Horn, Jalen, Ramsey, was a safety now. But when he got the contract, Pat Sartan, Dron, Blaine, Blan, A.J. Terrell, Denzo Ward, Marlon, Humphrey and then you have the young guys, the Quinion Mitchells, the Devin Witherspoons, the Christian Gonzalez, the Cooper DeGines, and Joey Porter Jr. is also apparently looking

Starting point is 00:16:14 for $30 million a year. You quickly add in DJ Turner and there's 15 guys. So yeah, I think you could say 15 and you brought up Christian Benford and there's other players that you feel really good about around the league that are good players. It's a strong, probably top 20 in the NFL right now and maybe we even have a top 25 guy in this roster as well in Dax Hill. I'd like to have that conversation at some point. But DJ Turner, I think easily you could say top 15. I think top 10 is a tough 10 to crack. It is a very good corner.

Starting point is 00:16:45 These are a lot of guys that we graded very highly, Jake, in the draft processes of the previous five years or so, the guys that are within that range. So I tend to still like them a lot because our process like them, they're playing really well. They've got the accolades now. They've been paid like top guys. I think Turner can ask for top 10 money,

Starting point is 00:17:03 which is an average of $25 million. per year, which starts that conversation, but $25 million per year. I think at that point, if you're saying he's top 10, you have to be comfortable getting close to that number. And that's where I wonder if you are making the argument, okay, maybe he's not top 10. Maybe he's top 15. Well, that changes things then at that point. What if we try to name some guys?

Starting point is 00:17:24 So if we say Witherspoon, Sertan, Gardner, Benford, maybe, maybe not. Quignon? Quinyon, probably. Witherspoon? Wetherspoon, yes. Wetherspoon, yes. Gonzalez, probably. Stingley, did I say Stingley?

Starting point is 00:17:43 You didn't, but yes. Stingley, so we're at seven. Scooper to Gene above? He might be, he's like for a slot guy, he's probably number one, him and Devon, Witherspoon. Does everything, plays the run, plays in coverage, can play outside in a pinch.

Starting point is 00:17:58 What about J-Qua McMillan, another slot guy? No, I would say under Turner, because he's strictly a sloth. But has been instrumental in that Denver defense and spot corners are more valuable than ever. But you can also argue like it's just a different position to some degree. So we're at eight and Carlton Davis was pretty good last year, I guess. Joy Porter Jr. Steelers probably argue yes.

Starting point is 00:18:27 So there you're at 10. If you throw Joy Porter Jr. in, Christian Gonzalez, I don't know if I counted him or not. that would be certainly in the conversation. Who are we forgetting here? You didn't say Tric McDuffie, did you? I don't know if I said him, but I should have. J.C. Horn would be the other one. AJ Terrell will be the other one.

Starting point is 00:18:44 So like Denzo Ward, another one. So like there you're at 14, 15. And I think when you get to like the bottom half of that list, that's where DJ Turner probably slots in right now. So you can make the argument, I think, like up to 7 to 8, probably. But if he does it again this year and he has another two, picks, 13 pass breakups, two force fumbles. It'll make the Pro Bowl then.

Starting point is 00:19:08 And then he'd have skins on the wall that these other guys currently have, too. A clearer track record, yeah. Yeah. So let's talk about how the money fits together, Joe, because that is an interesting conversation unto itself with three corners eclipsing that $30 million per year mark.

Starting point is 00:19:24 When you look historically at the top cornerback contracts, a lot of them are currently active. I'll explain what that means as well as we discuss how the money will fit together for the Bengals and DJ Turner coming up next. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another for sales,

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Starting point is 00:20:35 Joe, we're talking about DJ Turner's potential contract extension, which, as you pointed out earlier in the show, is something that he and his agent are thinking about as recently as in the last week or so when DJ Turner's agent, Andre Odom, posted on Instagram, the cat from Tom and Jerry, the Tomcat, Tom from Tom and Jerry counting his money with the CV-1 soon. And then you look at what TV-1s are getting paid and you're probably looking at $25 million or more. And that's a franchise tag number for 2027 as well.

Starting point is 00:21:13 So that's where I start is looking at that franchise tag number. And using that as kind of the baseline because if they don't get the extension done, that could very well be where this thing is headed next year. But I think right now the expectation and hope is that the extension is done before training camp around the start of training camp this year. Yeah. would you say it was $24 million for the franchise tag, $23.6 in that range? It was 24 and some change.

Starting point is 00:21:38 I can get the exact number for you. Yeah, because I think you're right. That sets a good baseline of where we're at. If we're saying the top 10 paid corners right now make $25 million per year on average, that's new money. And the tag is just under $24.7. Okay. And the tag is just under $24 million. Well, there we go.

Starting point is 00:21:57 There's probably a good starting basis of, hey, I'd like to be included with these top 10 guys. I feel I'm a top 10 player at that position. And he should. I've got some other data points too real quick before we go too hard on it. He'll only allow 29 catches last year, DJ Turner. That's what? One and a half per game. You could probably do the real math, but that's less than two. And for 46.8 completion percentage, 419 yards allowed last year. That's less than 25 yards per game in a 17 game season. Only allowed four touchdowns, a 77.3 passer rating when you targeted DJ Turner's player, which average pass rating in the league is a 93. So you were worse off if you were targeting DJ Turner.

Starting point is 00:22:38 And if you're a corner, those are the numbers that matter. Those are ones that are going to get you paid despite us bringing up the tackling and run defense potential issues. Yeah, I think DJ's got an argument for $25 million per year, Jake. And I don't see why the Bengals would really bulk at that other than when they start to look at their cap space and what it could be in future years. Yeah, I think that's what it will boil down to. But when you look at the current landscape of cornerback contracts in the NFL as well,

Starting point is 00:23:06 we were talking about this before we started recording. When you look at in long-time listeners, every day, or shout out to the everydayers, those of you who make us your first listen, we appreciate all those great listening habits. But the people that listen all the time have heard me talk about this metric in the past. It is how much is the average per year of this contract as a percentage of the unadjusted salary cap at the time that that contract was signed. For example, Dion Sanders in 1999 signed a four-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys for $11.25 million per year, which by today's Sanders doesn't sound like much.

Starting point is 00:23:41 That was nearly 20% of the cap, which is unheard of. The next biggest is also a Dion Sanders contract in 1995 with the Dallas Cowboys. It was $13.6 million or 13.6% of the cap at the time of sign. So another 6% higher than that for Dion when he signed a deal in 1999. That deal didn't make it very long. He then signed a new deal with the Washington commanders that then differently named team in 2000, which was down to 13%. So there's some funny money happening with that 1999.

Starting point is 00:24:15 I forgot he played in Washington, to be honest. But the inflated number, if you were to adjust for the dollar now versus the dollar then, that's equivalent, that 11.25 is equivalent to $60 million nearly if it was a contract today. So that's double roughly what Amad Gardner and Darren Dingley and Jeffrey are making. Yeah, I mean, that's crazy. So Darrell Revis is the, Daryl Revis is the most modern, well-paid corner, 13% in 2013. But the current guys, you got eight of the top 33 contracts by this measure. ever of inflation adjusted money eight of the top 33 all time and this this has been increasing

Starting point is 00:25:00 generally speaking since the 90s but the only players on this list from the 90s were deion sanders tie law in 1999 as well and erin glenn in 1997 besides that they're all 2000s contracts a lot of early 2000s in the list of course like chris mcallister with the ravens is on this list in 2004. But the current contracts, the current active contracts make up a lot of these. And you're talking about 9% or higher of the salary cap. And if you were to give DJ Turner a contract that was 9% of the current unadjusted salary cap, which is around $301 million. You're talking about about a $27 million AP by deal. And that's what J.C. Horn is making currently. It's a little bit less than Pat Sertan got at the time that he signed his contract,

Starting point is 00:25:50 which is just a couple of years ago in 2024, and already looks like the biggest bargain in the NFL nearly for a veteran contract. If you were to compare him more to, say, an AJ Terrell or DeRond Blan with the Cowboys, who are a couple of guys that are in the conversation for top 15 corners in the NFL as well, closer to 8% or you split the difference at 8.5%. That's where you get those 24 to 25.5 million dollar numbers on an APY basis. And those are probably the comparables that I imagine the Bengals, are talking about, but I wonder how much DJ Turner is really looking at that $30 million

Starting point is 00:26:24 number versus a $25 or $26 million number and how those negotiations are playing out. That could make or break an extension. 30 versus 25, 26 in that range. That's a big difference. The Bengals have about 16 and a half. It's listed as cap space rate now, $16.5 million. They're not going to spend all of that, Jake. We know that.

Starting point is 00:26:45 But, you know, they can dip into that for some of DJ Turner's extension, as he's currently on a one year, $4 million deal, the final year of his rookie deal, roughly. So I always factor that in, because I think it helps teams spread out the cap hit a little bit. We're talking, let's say, just three years, $25 million per year extension. You don't rip up that final year, right? That gets tacked into it and built into it. So it really be a four years, $79 million deal.

Starting point is 00:27:10 So instead of it being really $25 million per year as a cap hit every single year, doesn't have to be like that, right? You can massage those numbers. but an average would be over the next four years, if you include that final rookie deal year, would be $19.75 million if he got a $25.5 million per year. And I think that's much more digestible for the Bengals to be under the $20 million, but still DJ gets the new money that would put them with the top 10 guys,

Starting point is 00:27:37 an average of the top 10 just outside the top five with, you know, a J.C. Horn. But really, for the Bengals, much more manageable. I think that's a number they could get with. But if it starts to get to 28, 29, 30, I think that becomes harder to swallow. And if you do a very basic extension here, which would be like, say a $15 million signing bonus for DJ Turner, you don't touch a salary this year. And if it's $15 million, you got to make up another $60 million, right? So say it's just $20 million per year for the next three years. It won't look exactly like that.

Starting point is 00:28:07 But just as a very basic understanding here, how much cap space does that eat into for the Bengals who, like you said, are currently, according to, to over the cap around $16.5 million is probably a little bit less than that when it comes to regular season space. It's probably closer to $8 million when it comes to regular season space when you count for the practice squad and all the expenses that come up over the course of the season, such as practice squad elevations and the extra two players on the roster when you're not doing offseason rules. Well, giving DJ Turner an extension to look exactly like that would increase this cap hit this year. So the Bengals would drop from that $16 million number to about $12.5 million. So about $4 million more dollars of a cap hit for DJ Turner in the current year.

Starting point is 00:28:50 And the big deal would be next year where DJ Turner is not on the cap at all. And then next year, suddenly you're talking about a $20-ish million cap hit if the Bengals were to structure the contract that way. And so maybe they do things a little bit differently to push that money a little bit into the future. We're in 2028. They have a little bit more flexibility. So maybe they try to offset with a slightly larger signing bonus.

Starting point is 00:29:13 But when you look at that and you see, well, next year the Bengals are only like $15 million in cap space now after sending DJ Turner, give or take, probably a little bit more if we're being entirely realistic with it. How comfortable are the Bengals at that point? I would guess that they're feeling real compressed to that salary cap and they're really looking at, okay, how many times we have to restructure Joe Burrow to make this work? Because that should be part of the ongoing conversation is ongoing restructures for Joe. Burrow and potentially even Jamar Chase starting next year. No doubt. If they want to pack this roster and really go for it in the second half of Burrow and Jamar Chase's career, those levers are going to have to be pulled at some point and

Starting point is 00:29:54 pulled with frequency, right, because they obviously did win this offseason, but it's going to have to happen more often because we haven't even got to. That's why we wanted to start with DJ Turner being the number one likely extension candidate. I'm sure we're having future conversations the same way of saying, hey, Dax Hill, Miles Murphy, Jordan Battle, Chase Brown, Ted Carris, maybe don't. Elton Reisner, if they continue to play well this year. So it gets really tight.

Starting point is 00:30:19 You can see why they didn't automatically pick up that fifth year option for Miles Murphy when you're talking about next year having just about $15 million in cap space. We start talking about cuts and restructures. We're talking about a competitive, fully built, bloated roster, if you will. Well, and a roster full of veterans are paying, which, again, underlines the importance of cost-controlled assets in the NFL being key to your success. They need this draft class to give them some hits and give them some key pieces to this roster while they're on those cost-controlled rookie deals. But you're right.

Starting point is 00:30:53 If they send DJ Turner right now to that, say, $75 million contract that involves a $15 million signing bonus. So maybe they push off some of that cash flow into the future a little bit. But a big mark for these contracts is also how much cash does a player take home in the first calendar year of these extensions. So I think that's a tough ask unless they're guaranteeing money. And we know how the Bengals feel about guaranteed money. So then you're talking about looking at your potential cuts in 2027. You're looking at Jonathan Allen's contract where the Bengals could save $11.5 million. You're looking at BJ Hill's contract where the Bengals could save $8.5 million in this defensive tackle room that we really appreciate the depth of that they've built this year with veterans is suddenly Dexter Lawrence and, well, who are we?

Starting point is 00:31:43 going to draft to build out that defensive tackle room because nobody's coming around the corner there that you feel great about. We're not talking about extension candidates at defensive tackle here. We're talking about DJ Turner. So it does start to get sticky,

Starting point is 00:31:59 which is why these negotiations go the way they go. But all that being said, Joe, this is still a very obvious priority that the Bengals should be thinking about this offseason before training camp. Yeah, no doubt and we're in that range. This is extension time. This is

Starting point is 00:32:15 why we wanted to bring it up. I mean, people have asked us these questions in the last few weeks and it's like, we're getting there. Franny Kip is the time. This is when the Bengals start negotiating and then of course when his agent posted that, we're like, yep, it's time. We've got to start talking about this. That's right. And we're going to be talking about some potential

Starting point is 00:32:31 underrated players on this roster before we're planning to have another fun guest for you later on this week on the Lockdown Bengals podcast. But until then, that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Thanks for listening. Hoota and have a good.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Why DJ Turner Is the Bengals’ MUST-EXTEND Corner—Just How Good Is He?

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