Bengals roster breakdown is back! During the 99 days leading up to Cincinnati's regular season opener against the Cleveland Browns, the player with the matching jersey number as days remaining will become the day's highlighted player.
92 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, putting No. 92 B.J. Hill in focus for the day.
B.J. Hill
- Age: 30
- Year: 8th
- Position: Defensive tackle
- College: NC State
- Previous Teams: New York Giants (2018-20)
- Jersey Number: 92
Hill enters his eighth season in the NFL and fifth with the Bengals after being drafted 69th overall in the third round of the 2028 NFL Draft. He's played in 112 career games (67 starts) thus far with 64 of them in a Bengals uniform on top of seven playoff games. He's up to 341 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, and 23.5 sacks through seven seasons, amassing 225 tackles, 19 tackles for loss, and 16 sacks after four seasons in Cincinnati.
The Bengals notably traded Billy Price for Hill in the weeks leading up to the 2021 season. Hill was immediately inserted in the defensive line rotation alongside DTs DJ Reader and Larry Ogunjobi. Cincinnati re-signed Hill to a three-year deal in 2022, making him a full-time starter.
Hill re-upped for another three years this offseason to retain his starting status in the middle of the Bengals' d-line. Only Trey Hendrickson has played more games than Hill for this defense since 2021, and despite the change in defensive coordinators from Lou Anarumo to Al Golden, Cincinnati desired Hill to play out the remainder of his prime in Bengal stripes.
Contract Details
Hill is in the first year of his three-year, $33 million contract. He earned a signing bonus of $11 million and is scheduled to earn a base salary of $4.55 million this season. He can earn up to $350,000 in per game roster bonuses and he was able to earn another $100,000 in a workout bonus. Hill's total possible cash earnings for the 2025 season amounts to $16 million.
When adding on his signing bonus proration of $3,666,666, Hill's salary cap hit for the season will be $8,625,490. He missed two games last season so $41,176 of his per game roster bonuses are considered as Not Likely To Be Earned (NTLBE) and do not count against the team's cap this season.
Roster Outlook
Re-signing Hill was the first major move the Bengals made in free agency, and despite how impactful he's been with this defense over the last four years, his return wasn't completely expected. The drafting of both Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson in 2024 paved the way for a possible future in which Hill moved on to wrap up his career elsewhere. Cincinnati decided they want Hill to continue helping usher in the next generation on that side of the ball.
That's the true difference in Hill's responsibilities this year and beyond. He's arguably the veteran to follow on defense and with Hendrickson dealing with his contract issues, he's actually present to lead in the first place. It wouldn't shock anyone to see a captain's "C" patch on his jersey come September.
Hill will be in the same spot he's held along the Bengals' defense line for at least the next two seasons. His contract essentially protects him for that long and then becomes a team option in 2027. Until then, he's a starter through and through.
Projected role: Starting defensive tackle
Previous Player Profiles
- No. 99: Myles Murphy
- No. 98: T.J. Slaton Jr.
- No. 97: Shemar Stewart
- No. 96: Cam Sample
- No. 95: Howard Cross III
- No. 94: Eric Gregory
- No. 93: McKinnley Jackson
