Latest NFL news helps make an easy offseason decision for the Bengals even easier when the time comes to act
Cincinnati is expected to give Myles Murphy some news in the coming weeks.
The NFL has revealed the 2026 salary cap to be $301.2 million, an increase of $22 million from last year.
This confirms the Cincinnati Bengals will have just over $50 million in offseason salary cap space. OverTheCap.com currently has them at $50,433,671 under the newly established cap. Only six teams have more space at the moment.
$301.2 million is on the lower end of what the expected cap for this year. The maximum expected value was reported to be $305.7 million. Because the final cap is as low as it could’ve been based on the initial report, this impacts more than just how much cap space clubs can use. Certain players will also be forced to accept payments that are relative to the cap.
Cincinnati has one player who will surely experience this in the coming weeks.
Bengals learn Myles Murphy’s fifth-year option cost
The defensive end the Bengals are most counting on next year is Myles Murphy. The former first-round was a full-time starter for the first time in his third season, and took a notable step forward in the second half of the year, racking up four of his 5.5 sacks on the season in the final eight games. He achieved a pass rush win rate of 14.1% during that stretch as well, up from his 9.2% clip in the first nine weeks.
Murphy finishing the year on a high note got quarterback Joe Burrow’s attention, and it came at the perfect time for Cincinnati. The club can pick up Murphy’s fifth-year option any time before May 1 of this year, extending his rookie contract through the 2027 season. It will help keep Murphy in a Bengals uniform for longer, and extend the window for contract extension negotiations to take place.
It will cost Cincinnati $14.475 million in 2027 money to exercise Murphy’s fifth-year option. He qualifies for the lowest of four possible values for DEs because he didn’t meet any of the playing time requirements, nor did he make a Pro Bowl.
If the cap ended up being the maximum value, Murphy’s fifth-year option would’ve been slightly more expensive, as the values are based on the league-wide cap. That’s good news for the Bengals, as they will save a little bit of cash in picking up the option.
To make things better, these values are locked in regardless of what happens over the next month.
New contracts signed during free agency won’t impact Murphy’s fifth-year option
Let’s say Cincy picks up Murphy’s option right now, before any notable DE contracts are agreed to during free agency when the market will surely become more lucrative. $14.475 million would rank 24th in terms of Average Annual Value (AAV) among EDGE players. That’s a price for a quality starter, which the Bengals expect Murphy to be going forward.
That value for next year will look even better in a few weeks when new contracts materialize. The rise in the cap will inflate prices for virtually every position, and EDGE is no exception.
In short, paying Murphy just under $15 million for next year will look like a bargain by the time the deadline for Cincinnati to exercise his option arrives. Expect the Bengals to eventually tell their 2023 first-rounder he’ll be staying in town through the 2027 season.