The Cincinnati Bengals were proactive in rebuilding their defensive line this offseason, adding edge rusher Boye Mafe and 3-technique Jonathan Allen to their core group.
Mafe is hoping to emulate Trey Hendrickson's career arc by breaking out in a bigger role after being relegated to rotational duty for the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks. The depth chart behind Mafe at defensive end is looking a little rough, though.
Even if he comes anywhere close to matching Hendrickson's elite production, the latter proved he couldn't elevate the Bengals' putrid defense all on his own.
That's why it comes as something of a surprise that an expert's forecast on one of Cincinnati's biggest decisions of the offseason could ultimately create an even larger need at that position next year. Or perhaps it could alter the team's draft strategy next week.
CBS Sports cap guru expects Bengals to decline fifth-year option on disappointing first-round pick
Joel Corry of CBS Sports had about a decade and a half as a sports agent representing NFL and NBA players. He's now a salary cap expert, and based on his considerable experience, he envisions the Bengals declining the fifth-year option on 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy's rookie contract.
"Murphy had a career-high 5.5 sacks in 2025 after just three sacks during his first two NFL seasons. That probably isn't enough production to warrant a fifth year."
This is somewhat of a surprise to me. Murphy would cost $14.475 million in 2026 if the Bengals accept that fifth-year option. Based on how he played down the stretch this past season, that'd be worth the cost. It's essentially a one-year prove-it deal.
Sure, it wasn't optimal for Murphy to finally show signs he could live up to his gaudy draft status midway through Year 3. This is more an indictment of 2025 first-rounder Shemar Stewart, who looked like an unmitigated bust as a rookie — perhaps more so than Murphy once did.
Although the Bengals have potential incoming contract extensions for starting cornerbacks DJ Turner and Dax Hill, they'll easily have enough room to book Murphy on his fifth-year option for 2027.
May 1 is the deadline for Cincinnati to pick up that last year of Murphy's contract. Might as well do it, because if Murphy builds on his strong 2025 stretch run, his $14.475 million salary would rank 31st in average annual value relative to the rest of the league's edge defenders.
If the Bengals roll the dice and decline Murphy's option, and he proceeds to ball out in 2026, all of a sudden he's in line for a massive payday, and could easily price himself out of the Queen City.
The number that it'd take to keep Murphy at his current Year 5 rate seems high. Relative to the market at his position and Cincinnati's overall salary cap outlook (projected $68.7 million in 2027 cap room with Murphy's option on the books), it's well worth the moderate risk.
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