Bengals land on important decision regarding the future of Dax Hill, and what comes next is anyone's guess
The Cincinnati Bengals are exercising the fifth-year option on cornerback Dax Hill's rookie contract. Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Cincinnati is choosing to keep Hill under contract through the 2026 season. Hill was the 31st overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He was originally drafted to develop behind Jessie Bates III at free safety and […]
The Cincinnati Bengals are exercising the fifth-year option on cornerback Dax Hill's rookie contract.
Per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Cincinnati is choosing to keep Hill under contract through the 2026 season.
Hill was the 31st overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He was originally drafted to develop behind Jessie Bates III at free safety and ended up taking over at that spot when Bates left in during free agency in 2023. The former Michigan defensive back mostly played in the slot for the Wolverines, so transitioning him to the back of the secondary was a big unknown. As a result, Hill had an up-and-down first year starting at safety and the Bengals opted to move him to cornerback in 2024.
After defeating former college teammate DJ Turner II in a training camp battle to start, Hill began settling in at his new position during the first five weeks of the 2024 season. It was during Week 5 when Hill suffered a torn ACL that ended his third year in Cincinnati.
Coming off a season-ending injury with many questions about his game, it wasn't a guarantee the Bengals would exercise Hill's fifth-year option. It will cost them $12.682 million guaranteed in both cash and salary cap space for the 2026 league year, according to OverTheCap.com. The decision to commit this money to him now indicates there's a long-term future with him on the team, but anything more detailed than that is up in the air.
Bengals now must figure out how to maximize Dax Hill
The story of Hill's NFL career has been constant change. He rode the bench as a rookie after starting for two years in college. He struggled adapting to a new position the first year he played significant snaps. After changing positions yet again, his progress was soon stunted due to one unfortunate step on the field.
No one really knows who Hill is as a player now three years after Cincinnati used a first-round pick on him. At least from the outside looking in, the position he'll play this upcoming season isn't even known, nor is the time he'll be fully cleared to practice and then play.
As of last week, Hill himself didn't even know.
"Yeah, I don't know. We'll see," Hill said to reporters on April 21. "Talk to coach about that one, but whatever they do, I'm gonna do it to the best I can to the best of my ability."
That's a fair amount of uncertainty for a player who's scheduled to have the fifth-highest cap hit on the roster next year.
The talent is undeniably there. Hill flashed at times at safety despite his issues getting the mental side of the position down, and his traits looked to be better utilized at cornerback in the limited sample size we saw last year.
Keeping him at the position he trained to play all last offseason feels like the proper decision, but moving him back inside to the slot as Mike Hilton's replacement may not be out of the question just yet either.
Whatever the plan is, the Bengals have Hill for at least two more years and need a clear plan on what to do with him. Exercising his fifth-year option should be a sign that said plan is in place. Now we wait to see if that's true.
The Bengals have placed the fifth-year option on every first-round pick made since Zac Taylor was hired in 2019: Jonah Williams, Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Hill. Williams is the only one of the the previous three who didn't earn a long-term contract from the club.
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