CINCINNATI – As the clock winds down to the 2025 NFL Draft, another one is ticking toward a deadline next week.
Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Dax Hill said he isn’t listening to the ticking, even with a 500 percent raise on the line.
“Whatever they tell me. We'll see,” Hill said. “I know it's coming around.”
May1 is the deadline for teams to exercise the fifth-year option on 2022 first-round pick.
If the Bengals pick up Hill’s fifth-year option, he will make a guaranteed $12.7 million in 2026, which would be a heavy price to play for someone who has started 24 games and is coming off an ACL injury.
“I don't even put a price tag or value on it,” Hill said. “If they do it, it's another year to prove my worth.”
The Bengals picked up the fifth-year options on their previous first-round picks – wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase (2021), quarterback Joe Burrow (2020) and offensive tackle Jonah Williams (2019).
Burrow and Chase went on to sign extensions, while Williams left in free agency after the 2023 season.
Since the fifth-year option was instituted with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, the Bengals have exercised it nine times and declined it thrice (2015 Cedric Ogbuehi, 2017 John Ross and 2018 Billy Price).
Even if the Bengals don’t exercise Hill’s fifth-year option, they still could agree to an extension with the defensive back, whom the7 selected with the No. 31 pick in 2022.
So far only five players have had their option picked up, with three of them playing for the Jets:
Jaguars, DT Travon Walker, $14.8 million
Jets, CB Sauce Gardner, $20.1 million
Jets, WR Garrett Wilson, $16.8 million
Cowboys, OT Tyler Smith, $21.2 million
Jets LB Jermaine Johnson II, $13.4 million
The Houston Texans bypassed the option on cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. it in favor of a three-year, $90 million extension.
The fifth-year option is not the only question Hill is dealing with.
After making the switch from safety to outside cornerback in 2024, Hill could find himself moving positions again in 2025 as the Bengals let veteran slot corner Mike Hilton hit free agency.
Many believe the slot, which is where Hill played the majority of his snaps in college at Michigan, is his best position.
“I don't know. We'll see,” Hill said. “You'll have to talk about coach about that one. But whatever they do, I'm gonna do it the best I can.”
Hill was playing well at cornerback before he suffered the ACL tear in the Week 5 overtime loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
With Hilton inactive for that game due to a knee injury, Hill rotated into the slot for seven of his 23 snaps before getting hurt.
Asked if his experience in the slot at Michigan would make yet another position change easier, Hill said he would like to think so.
“Hopefully it's a smooth transition, but you never know how that is,” he said. “It's been a couple years. We'll see how it goes. I trust in the coaches and whatever position they have everyone in is going to be for the best for the entire team.”
Hill said “ideally” he would rather stay put at outside corner, where he was getting comfortable and playing well – and where players make more money in free agency.
“But coaches have other plans, and sometimes you have to give up yourself for the overall team,” he said. “Sometimes you can't really control everything. You do what's best and keep one foot in front of the other move forward.”
With so much uncertainly surrounding Hill, he said he’s happy to be confident and sure about one thing – after sixth months of rehab, his knee is going to be fine.
“No matter what position it is, if it's outside (corner), safety or wherever I'm at, it's just going to be football and doing those football movements again and just getting acclimated to doing those simple cuts,” Hill said. “I just trust the six months that I've been going at it. That's how you build that confidence in doing those (cutting and planting) movements. Yeah, it's a hurdle, but I feel like I'm past that.”
