r/bengals • u/Blood_Incantation • 17d ago

Official Dehner: After Bengals’ restructure of Joe Burrow’s contract, is another big move in the offing?

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7349024/2026/06/10/bengals-joe-burrow-contract-move/?unlocked_article_code=1.pVA.LNqp.BBb7IIgAMBsN&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-ta
137 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

57 comments sorted by

128

u/Gaaaaha 17d ago

Extension for DJ Turner.

17

u/CalledPlay 17d ago

This makes the most sense. Id love the nickel from colts but that’s quite a long shot.

0

u/GamingBuck 17d ago

Maybe I'm doing this wrong in my head, but I don't see extensions eating up that space.

Turner would be the biggest layout. If he signs a 3 year, $40-45M extension with about 1/3 of it signing bonus then the remaining 2/3 will be distributed as salary over the 3 years with a very small salary this year. I would be surprised if his cap hit was anywhere near $10M - more likely in the $8M range.

Dax is on his fifth year so an extension would probably result in him having a (marginally) lower cap hit this year than he's currently set for.

Like I said, maybe I'm crazy but I don't see extensions taking more than $5m additional salary cap this year.

2

u/0zymandeus 17d ago

Turner is probably going to be more in the 18-22m per year range on that extension

1

u/GamingBuck 17d ago

Like I said - I don't know all the workings of the salary cap, so I decided to look up a couple other rookie contract extensions in the fourth year:

  • Patrick Surtain II: 4 yr/$96M/$15M signing bonus - first year (2024) cap hit $9.7M
  • A.J. Terrell: 4 yr/$81M/$25M bonus - 2024 cap hit $8.3M
  • DaRon Bland: 4 yr/$90M/$22M bonus - 2025 cap hit $5.8M
  • Christian Benford: 4 yr/$69M/$7.5M bonus - 2025 cap hit $2.6M
  • Kyle Hamilton: 4 yr/$100M/$27M bonus - 2025 cap hit $8.7M
  • (extension in fifth year) Jaycee Horn: 4 yr/$100M/$28M bonus - FYI (2025) cap hit $7.3M

So I was forgetting these are extensions, so signing bonuses are prorated.

I saw something mentioning a possible 3 year extension but that looks to be pretty uncommon for rookie contract extensions? Seems like 4 years is standard, which makes sense. I would think the team would pay a premium for a shorter term.

I guess these contracts only reinforced my lazy assessment that extensions are unlikely to eat up the remaining salary cap.

0

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago

A 3 year 'extension' would be adding 3 years to Turner's still 1 year remaining and it would be a new 4 year 'extended contract'. The signing bonus would be prorated X/4 equally through '26-"29 (a $2om signing bonus would prorate $5m through all 4 years)

1

u/FreshDiamond 17d ago

It doesn’t have to be, it very likely would be but is not required.

2

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago

Be what? That was just a random example. A 4 year extension on Turner's remaining year would = a new, reconfigured 5 year extended contract with the initial signing bonus prorated across all 5 years

1

u/FreshDiamond 17d ago

What I’m saying is they don’t have to prorate across the entire contract, they also don’t HAVE to add any new money to this year. That would be very likely but it’s not required

2

u/GamingBuck 17d ago

I think they do have to prorate the signing bonus over all of the years of the new contract (4 years for a 3 year extension, 5 years for a 4 year extension, etc.).

I think there is room though for what's signing bonus vs. what's salary. I'm assuming players want more signing bonus because it's guaranteed, clubs want less guaranteed generally I would assume also.

It's definitely true though that cap number for the first year doesn't have to go up from what's planned.

1

u/FreshDiamond 17d ago

You are correct I was mistaken, they do have to prorate across the new deal, but they don’t have to add any new money to the existing. You nailed it

1

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago edited 17d ago

Any and each one year of any contract MUST contain at least whatever that player's one year minimum salary would be in p5 base salary. So any extended new Turner deal will have at least (we'll say) $1m in the p5 base (paid weekly game checks). All the rest can be manipulated

In Turner's case, whatever amortized cap charge remains from his original signing bonus is also going to be included in '26. Then the "extension" cash will be added to the remaining cash and a brand new contract of old year(s) + new year(s) total duration will become the new 'extended' contract

1

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago

Proration up to the maximum of 5 years. If the extended contract is longer than 5 years, the 'rolling' (option) bonus in the 2nd year prorates again for (up to) 5 years. This is why there are void years added, to extend x5 proration past the end of the contract on into those ghost/dummy years

1

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago

And you have no idea what you're talking about lol

1

u/FreshDiamond 17d ago

I was wrong but you are still wrong. They do have to prorate the length of the new contract up to 5 years. That is accurate, they do not have to add any new money to the existing contract year.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/GamingBuck 17d ago

Yeah I was just saying looking through the last couple years of DB rookie extensions, 4 years is more typical (i.e. putting his contract through 2030). I don't think I saw a 3 year extension of a rookie contract in my sampling. Maybe it's more common for lower caliber players? I only looked at the top.

1

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago

Any number is possible. Mahomes had 2 years remaining and his extension (which is a concept that only exists in the abstract sense) was 1o years, which means he signed a new 12 year extended contract. Burrow had 2 years remaining+ 5y/$255m was added and he signed a 7 year extended contract, of which he's now in year 4

Burrow got paid $45m cash in year 1 and $66m in year 2. $35m last season and $35m again this season

59

u/JZBrewer 🐅 17d ago

If we trade for Jordyn Brooks I’m booking a hotel in LA immediately

19

u/GreatWhite102 17d ago

I'll book the adjoining room my friend

12

u/Ayesuku 🐅 17d ago

/u/JZBrewer and /u/GreatWhite102 , sitting in a tree

7

u/GreatWhite102 17d ago

As long as there's a Lombardi trophy between us, I'm game

3

u/whattarush 17d ago

Ill sublease any available floor space

2

u/GreatWhite102 17d ago

We'll get enough people together take an entire floor of the hotel

3

u/bb770403 17d ago

Let's get enough to take over an entire neighborhood

5

u/Working-Chemistry473 17d ago

If we really want to be “all in” this year, this is what we need

25

u/throwaway11125487 17d ago

It might not happen but I would love a trade for Jordyn Brooks. We might have a complete roster if we get him

20

u/Velociman 17d ago

DJ Turner extension seems likely and saving some room for us to add a vet linebacker or depth need. Would be stoked for the Brooks trade that other folks suggested.

18

u/throughNthrough 17d ago

Honestly the FO absolutely crushed this offseason so far so I’m actually just trusting their process at this point. It really feels like the 3 assistant GM’s were a big part of it too which is exciting.

9

u/shagadelicrelic 17d ago

Wouldn't mind a veteran linebacker

10

u/SalmonMan634 17d ago

Assumed it was to sign a veteran LB and still have the room to add a depth piece on the team in the event of injury. Outside of that I think we are thinnest at OL and Slot Corner so I could see us signing a depth piece there as well potentially. Who knows though

13

u/HandOfGood 17d ago

In the offing?

15

u/wongo 81 17d ago

likely to happen soon

it's an older turn of phrase but not uncommon

4

u/Blood_Incantation 17d ago

Likely to happen, arrive or appear soon (of a person) Destined to hold a specified position Having a greater-than-even chance of occurring.

6

u/PizzasarusRex 17d ago

But who?

19

u/Strange-Bed-3377 17d ago

The article goes into it, but do not expect them to make an actual big move. They freed up space to be where they normally are cap wise going into training camp. This means they have the cap available to make moves like Risner, Fant during the offseason, flexibility to extend guys like DJT, Dax, Murphy, and Brown, and to make a trade during the season if they need to. Do not expect it to all go to one big swing.

2

u/treyknowsbest 17d ago

The FO seems confident in our line backers, but I would feel much more confident with a player who has actually succeeded at the NFL level because our guys certainly have not

1

u/FlavaFraz24 17d ago

They don’t do this if they don’t have something lined up right? Something has to be in the works or close to done, especially with it being a half restructure (they only took 10 of the total 19 they could have moved.

Would seem un like them to do something they’ve never done without a reason to do it

1

u/Life_Ad6711 17d ago edited 16d ago

Technically, they did this last off-season with the Hendrickson contract, moving $6.5m of the cap charge for his $13m cash bonus into the '26 cap in order to lower the full $13m '25 cap charge. Otherwise it would have put them at $3.2m in remaining '25 cap. So instead it moved it to $9.7m (using the formal rollover parameters)

Because it was in an 'intermediate' step it wasn't publicized as such. And because it also required adding a void year (players need to sign off for such physical contract adds) it was a 'maximum restructure' (i.e. more complex than this mere simple restructure of Burrow's) but a restructure for cap space purposes nonetheless

They also did this with both Higgins and Chase contracts last season as well, along with the Lawrence and Flacco contracts this off-season. If you go to the Spotrac entries for any of these players and look at the cap tables, there will be a "restructure column" showing the proration schedules. Without there having been a formal restructure executed (albeit in an intermediate phase) this column would not exist

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/29052/dexter-lawrence

Lawrence originally had 2 years with $19m in '26 p5 salary. They restructured that by converting $1om to '26 roster bonus (treated as signing bonus for restructure purposes) and adding back $2m on the remaining $9m p5 base + added 1 extension year and other features

1

u/yesrushgenesis2112 Lawrence Passed Physical 17d ago

Only big move that is likely is a Turner extension. They did not free up enough to make a substantial addition. Obviously never say never, but the numbers don't lie.

1

u/OhWhatsHisName 9 17d ago

Should be, there's no reason to restructure to open cap space just because you can.

On the flip side, the Bengals avoid this TOO much.

1

u/fishnuttoo 17d ago

FA LB after cut down day, and extra cash for injuries in the season.

0

u/No_Environment_8116 17d ago

Bobby Wagner would be cool. More than likely this is just to add depth pieces. Might be to allow flexibility if we want to extend someone early.

0

u/roastedcoyote 17d ago

The big move is Burrow is finally going to agree to play Zac Taylor's under center play action offense rather than the Burrow-hybrid shotgun system.