Dax Hill gets real about what he wants from the Cincinnati Bengals entering the most important year of his career
Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dax Hill is looking for a new contract, but ensuring he stays at the same position he was at last year is where his priorities start entering the offseason program.
Dax Hill has found a home as a starting cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals. He has no intention of moving from that home.
Hill began his Bengals career as a backup safety in 2022. He started at the position in 2023. A move to CB was implemented in 2024 before he missed most of the year with a torn ACL. He then started in the slot in 2025, but finished the year back on the outside where he was the previous season.
Hill will be listed as a CB this year, but with opportunity open in the slot and a third-round draft pick used on an outside corner, Hill wants to stay where he thrived last season.
“I mean, just how well I transitioned to there, to that spot,” Hill told reporters this week. “I feel like once you feel like you’re you’re growing and producing, I feel like the sky’s the limit, and you want to reach the ceiling whenever you’re young.”
Dax Hill sees a ticking clock
Hill will still be 25 years young when Week 1 rolls around. The six of the top-seven corners in Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value metric were all 26-and-under with the exception of 27-year old Marcus Jones, who earned high marks as a punt returner.
The window for high-level play at the position isn’t tremendously long. While he’s still without a long-term contract, Hill doesn’t want to spend another year wondering where he’s going to be featured in Cincinnati’s secondary.
“I mean, it’s going on Year 5 and I don’t want to waste a whole lot of time,” Hill said. “Just doing some introspection, like, I mean, time has already flown by, so I want to make the most out of it, because it’s not a whole lot of time left.”
Hill would already be on his second contract if he was drafted two spots later in the 2022 NFL Draft. While his future hangs in the balance this offseason, he made sure he had control over the one thing he’s earned control over.
Taking a stand to stay
It’s been a couple years since Hill was tasked with becoming a safety. Those wasted seasons were largely out of his hands as a young player on the bottom of the totem pole.
Getting through them has also granted Hill the experience to grow a voice in the building. He’s using it now.
“I think it was to that point where I could speak up,” Hill said. “My first two years, I didn’t really have those those stripes earned. So now I feel like I’ve been here, been one of the guys that’s been here. So I feel like I can speak up and it holds weight now.”
Cincinnati’s defense picked up steam around the time Hill settled in opposite of DJ Turner II on the boundary. Turner received more acclaim for his year-long efforts of high-quality play, but the position group felt complete when Hill’s talents were starting to shine on the outside.
Regardless of questions in the slot, Hill has every reason to stay where he’s best at entering the most important year of his career. Figuring out how to compensate him before it begins would be the cherry on top.