Over the past four seasons, the Cincinnati Bengals have spent six of their seven selections in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft on defensive players. While Cashius Howell remains a mystery, and the team will hope for improvement from 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart in 2026, it is hard to call the Bengals’ draft history a success as their defense has struggled in this time period.
One of the previous first-round selections was used on defensive end Myles Murphy, whose fifth-year option the Bengals declined earlier this offseason.
Now, heading into the fourth year of his career, and final year of his four-year, $12 million rookie contract, Murphy has been called out by an NFL analyst.
Cincinnati Bengals Player Faces Make-or-Break Season
NFL Network writer Nick Shook listed 11 players who are in make-or-break seasons in 2026. Shook listed Murphy among them.
Shook wrote:
“After taking Murphy at No. 28 overall in 2023, the Bengals spent another first-round pick on Shemar Stewart in 2025. And then, a month after Hendrickson signed with the division rival Ravens, Cincy snagged Cashius Howell with the team’s first pick (No. 41 overall) in April’s draft. Those efforts have set up a battle royale of sorts for the top edge-rushing job opposite free-agent addition Boye Mafe.
This is where Murphy needs to strike. The former Clemson standout didn’t see any starts until the 2025 season, racking up 10 of them in 17 games played. He logged a career-best 52 tackles (six for loss) and 5.5 sacks, offering a glimpse of what could be moving forward.
Murphy’s Year 3 jump in production wasn’t enough to convince the Bengals to pick up his fifth-year option, making for a natural prove-it season in a contract year. As it stands now, his future probably isn’t in Cincinnati, unless his rate of compensation fits nicely into the Bengals’ bigger financial picture. But he will sign a second contract somewhere, and now is the time to earn that money.
Murphy’s Fifth-Year Option
Regarding Cincinnati’s decision to decline Murphy’s fifth-year option, BengalsWire’s Chris Roling wrote:
“Hard to blame the Bengals on this one. They ducked a fully guaranteed roughly $14.4 million in 2027 for Murphy, who finished with a 64.2 PFF grade (67th out of 115 edge defenders) last year.
Make no mistake, the Bengals are still all-in on Murphy, but they wanted the flexibility in 2027 in the wake of moves like trading for Dexter Lawrence. They have much invested on the defensive line now, including the Boye Mafe free-agency contract, a first-round pick on Shemar Stewart and a second-round pick on Cashius Howell.”
Ahead of the season, Murphy claimed there were no hard feelings after his fifth-year option was declined. Following a career-best 5.5-sack season, Murphy now gets a chance to make himself some real money next offseason if he produces this year for Cincinnati. With Cassius Howell and Shemar Stewart also on the team, and Cincinnati already committed financially to Boye Mafe, Shook may be right that Murphy could play himself out of Cincinnati next season.
Bengals’ $12 Million Talent Called Out: ‘His Future Probably Isn’t in Cincinnati’