Despite the big names in play, don’t expect Cincinnati Bengals contract extension news before Week 1 kickoff against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Those Bengals don’t like to do contract extensions during the regular season. Maybe that changes this year, given all the sudden modernization going around with the club. But most likely not.
A buzzer-beater in the days before kickoff seems unlikely too, despite these notables entering the final year of their current contracts:
- DJ Turner
- Dax Hill
- Chase Brown
- Myles Murphy
One could argue the Bengals want to see more from three of the four. More from Hill, in terms of health and the half-season breakout at boundary corner last year.
More from Brown, whose numbers have been good but he’s still anticipated to get even better.
And more from Murphy, whose
small flashes years after the big first-round investment aren’t nearly enough to open up the checkbooks over yet.
The exception is Turner. He’s been elite by every definition of the word when he’s on, even if the sample size is small. It has carried over to training camp this year while chasing Ja’Marr Chase around all summer.
But no deal by now probably isn’t a good sign and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic recently wrote that the “two sides aren’t near a deal.”
This doesn't have to be a bad thing. None of these guys have hinted that this would be an issue. No drama, unlike past years with names like Trey Hendrickson.
Also not concerning over the long-term. The Bengals needed to rethink the cap management a bit after the Dexter Lawrence trade, sure. But there’s nothing out of band with any of these four possible extensions, especially for a front office now doing modern things like Joe Burrow contract restructures.
One of these deals getting done before Sunday would be a happy surprise. But the lack of them, just business as usual.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals contract extension news probably isn’t coming before Week 1
