Dax Hill has shown he has the versatility to play in multiple spots in the Bengals secondary over the years, but he thinks the best plan is for him to stay at one position moving forward.
Hill began his time in Cincinnati as a safety and opened last season as a slot corner before moving to an outside corner spot a few weeks into the year. Hill finished the season with 88 tackles and an interception, and he said on Tuesday that he believes remaining in that spot will be the best thing for both him and the team.
“Staying at one spot, I feel like that’s ideal for development and my mental health. . . . It was challenging at first, but now I’m kind of used to it,” Hill said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “But I feel like now I kind of know what I want and I want to do what’s best for the team.”
Hill is in the fifth year of his rookie deal, so his play in the coming season will help determine the size of his next contract. That makes his desire to feel as comfortable as possible even easier to understand as the Bengals move toward the start of the regular season.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was nowhere near a football field on Monday, but his mind was still on the team’s prospects.
Burrow attended the Met Gala in New York City and did an interview with Nick Remsen of Vanity Fair — Burrow wore a suit from Bode, which means we won’t get a “The Bengal Wears Prada” headline — while getting ready for the festivities. Burrow was asked about his reaction to the recent trade for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence as well as earlier moves to add safety Bryan Cook, edge rusher Boye Mafe, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and safety Kyle Dugger in free agency.
“I’m really excited about the moves we made this offseason,” Burrow said. “We need to get better, so it was exciting to see the initiative from everybody in the organization to realize that we’re in this exciting stage. We’re in our primes playing great football. Finding guys like Dexter and Bryan Cook and Boye, to, you know, really solidify that defense so the young guys can also kind of rise up. We’re really going to try to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Whatever the reference, it’s a very different tone from Burrow than the deflated one he shared in some late-season press conferences last year. If that tone is still positive months from now, it will be a sign that the Bengals’ offseason maneuvering worked out as hoped.
Wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has played with 17 different starting quarterbacks in his 13-year career with the Texans, Cardinals, Titans, Chiefs and Ravens. Deshaun Watson, Kyler Murray, Ryan Tannehill, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson are among those.
Hopkins, who is currently a free agent, was asked at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday who he would like throwing him passes among the quarterbacks he hasn’t played with. His answer was quick: Joe Burrow,
“I think Joe is one of the best,” Hopkins said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “I love his game, his toughness. He took his team to a Super Bowl early in his career, and I feel like he can get back there with a little bit of help.”
He previously mentioned a desire to play with Burrow after catching a pass from the Bengals quarterback during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic. But Hopkins said in March he wants to reunite with Murray in Minnesota.
Truth be told, Hopkins is a free agent who wants an opportunity — somewhere, anywhere — to continue his career.
He appeared in 17 games with the Ravens last season, but the five-time Pro Bowler made only 22 receptions for 330 yards and two touchdowns.
The NFL may be lining up its drafts farther into the future than its Super Bowls.
The Super Bowl sites have been set through February 2029. Via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, the April 2029 draft possibly could be awarded at or about the same time the 2028 draft site is selected.
Fischer reports that some believe Cincinnati has the “inside track” to hosting the 2029 draft. It’s not clear, however, whether the league is willing to award the 2029 draft in the short term.
Minnesota is currently the “clear favorite” to be awarded the 2028 draft later this month.
Commissioner Roger Goodell told Pat McAfee last Friday that the league may start awarding drafts “a little further in advance,” given the size of the endeavor.
“The Super Bowl has gotten to a point where, it’s not the stadium size . . . but also it’s hotel rooms and all the other facilities that are necessary. [Hosting the draft] is slightly easier, but it’s getting more difficult,” Goodell said.
Frankly, that reality underscores the absence of a firm date for Super Bowl LXII, to be played more than two months before the 2028 draft. A date hasn’t been picked for one reason and one reason only: The NFL still hopes to expand the season to 18 games as of 2027.
And if the owners don’t announce a date certain for the game to be played in Atlanta (under the current season size, it would be February 13, 2028) at their next meeting later this month, it means that they’ll spend the summer months trying to persuade the NFL Players Association to agree to the inevitable expansion of the regular season as soon as possible.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said earlier this week that the team was still determining whether or not they would exercise their option on defensive end Myles Murphy’s contract for 2027 and deliberation time has now come to an end.
According to multiple reports, the Bengals will decline the fifth-year option on the 2023 first-round pick’s deal. Murphy would have been guaranteed $14.475 million in 2027 under the terms of the option.
Those reports indicate that the Bengals are interested in working out a long-term deal that would keep Murphy from leaving as a free agent next March.
Murphy compiled 92 tackles, 8.5 sacks and a forced fumble over his first three seasons. He had 5.5 sacks last season and continued progress in the coming season would help his chances of landing that kind of multi-year pact in Cincinnati or somewhere else.
The Bengals used free agency, trades and the draft to add to different areas of their defense this offseason, but there was one position group that has been left untouched.
Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter became the starting linebackers after being drafted last year and the Bengals did not add any competition for them over the last couple of months. On Monday, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said the team hasn’t ruled out making any moves before September but that they have “real belief” in the duo and he believes the addition of players like Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen to the defensive line is “going to elevate those guys” in their second season.
“We’ll always look at adding the right guy again. I am not down on my linebackers,” Tobin said, via the team’s website. “They individually will improve and collectively will improve by what we’ve done and the experience that they’ve gained. If there are people that we think can add to the group, we’ll add to the group. We’re not done roster building.”
The Bengals know their defense needs to be better in 2026 and their bet on their second-year linebackers will play a big role in whether that happens.
The Bengals didn’t have a first-round pick last week because of the Dexter Lawrence trade and that means they missed out on the chance to add someone like safety Caleb Downs or edge rusher Rueben Bain to a defense that has underwhelmed in recent seasons.
Those players could develop into long-term cornerstones for their teams and director of player personnel Duke Tobin called them “worthy guys” while discussing the trade at a Monday press conference. While they were worthy, Tobin said the Bengals did not “want to be reliant” on rookies starting right away and that getting a finished product in Lawrence was a better fit than developing a younger player.
“It’s one of the attractive things about trading a 10th pick for an All-Pro,” Tobin said, via the team’s website. “You know exactly what you’re getting. And you’re getting immediate impact. That was something that was a big decision point for us. We get immediate impact instead of impact as we go. So that was important.”
The Bengals added players like Boye Mafe, Jonathan Allen, and Bryan Cook in free agency, so the trend toward veterans began well before the Lawrence trade and it fits with a Bengals team that’s trying to maximize their chances of winning in quarterback Joe Burrow’s prime. The challenge now will shift to picking up those wins because Burrow’s patience could run thin if the team falls short again in 2026.
The deadline for teams to exercise the fifth-year options on the contracts of 2023 first-round picks is May 1 and it looks like the Bengals are gonna come right down to the wire on their Myles Murphy call.
Murphy was the 28th overall pick in 2023 and he moved into a starting role during the 2025 season. Murphy recorded 5.5 sacks while playing in every game and director of player personnel Duke Tobin had positive things to say about him during a Monday press conference.
“He’s a 24-year-old guy that’s just starting to scratch the surface,” Tobin said. “I was pleased with his progression last year and how he took ownership of the starting role and how he grew throughout the season. By the end of the year, he was a problem for teams. He’s a guy we believe in.”
That belief doesn’t mean the Bengals will be exercising the option, however. Murphy would be guaranteed $14.475 million in 2027 under the terms of the option and Tobin said the team will look this week to “see what kind of costs we can layer in next year.” Tobin added that they’d like a “long-term relationship” with Murphy, but is equally unsure if that will come together in Cincinnati.
Jermaine Burton is going to get another shot.
According to reporter Jordan Schultz, Burton has accepted an invitation to work out for the Bills at their rookie minicamp.
Burton, a Bengals third-round pick in 2024, was waived in December after a string of issues with his former club. He did not appear in a game in 2025.
He played 14 games with one start for the Bengals in 2024 as a rookie, catching just four passes on 14 targets for 107 yards.
Still just 24 years old, Burton will now get a chance to make an impression on the Bills.
Free-agent defensive lineman Mike Pennel Jr. is a “person of interest” in connection with the death of a woman in the Dominican Republic, according to ESPN.
The woman, who was 22 at the time, was reported missing in 2021. Her body was found on property owned by Pennel in the Dominican Republic.
Pennel’s lawyer said Pennel didn’t know the woman and he wasn’t in the country when she disappeared. Pennel sent a text message to ESPN: “This isn’t a story. I’m not legally involved. This is fake news being reported. I’d advise you to speak with my agent/lawyer . . . before writing a false story. Damaging my reputation.”
Pennel had sold the property in 2025. A worker found the body while digging a trench in January.
Undrafted in 2014, Pennel has played for the Packers, Jets, Chiefs, Falcons, Bears, and Bengals. In 2025, he appeared in eight games with the Bengals and eight with the Chiefs. In 12 years, he has 154 regular-season appearances and 27 starts. He won a pair of Super Bowls with the Chiefs.
At the time the woman was reported missing, Pennel was between teams. He’d been released by the Bears on August 31; he signed with the Falcons on September 15.
For now, the report is that Pennel is a “person of interest,” not a suspect.
