Bengals' DJ Turner enters contract year with unique inspiration

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          • Ben BabyJul 25, 2026, 06:00 AM ET
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              Ben Baby covers the Cincinnati Bengals for ESPN. He joined the company in July 2019. Prior to ESPN, he worked for various newspapers in Texas, most recently at The Dallas Morning News where he covered college sports. He provides daily coverage of the Bengals for ESPN.com, while making appearances on SportsCenter, ESPN's NFL shows and ESPN Radio programs. A native of Grapevine, Texas, he graduated from the University of North Texas with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He is an adjunct journalism professor at Southern Methodist University and a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
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          CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Bengals cornerback DJ Turner II had a simple request for his annual offseason solo trip.

          During his trip to Asia, he wanted to go to India. And in addition to seeing sacred sites such as the Bodhi Tree at the Mahabodhi Temple, and visiting the city of Varanasi on the Ganges River, Turner wanted to hang out with some monks.

          Last year, Turner got into meditation as he focused on finding mental clarity in what turned into a breakout season. And this year, he wanted to dive into that even deeper.

          "[The monks were] so mentally strong," Turner told ESPN this offseason. "I saw one person just sitting there for three straight hours in the same spot meditating. It's crazy. Not going to sleep, nothing, just sitting there."

          It was a reminder of how far Turner has to go in his own journey, which is notable given what is ahead of him when veterans report to camp Tuesday.

          Cincinnati is looking for a revamped defense to lift the Bengals back into the playoffs for the first time in four years. Turner is entering a contract year and aiming to follow up one of the best statistical years any cornerback had in 2025.

          "Last year was cool, but there's so much more I'm trying to do," Turner said. "So much more. I left a whole bunch of plays on the field last year."

          Turner enters this season in a vastly different position than he was in a year ago.

          At the end of the 2025 training camp, Turner lost the battle for one of the two starting outside cornerback positions. But after just one game, the season opener against the Cleveland Browns, Turner started the remaining 16 contests of the regular season.

          By the end of the year, he had put himself in contention for a Pro Bowl nod. And at a position where evaluations can be subjective, Turner had some of the strongest advanced numbers.

          According to Next Gen Stats, Turner led all cornerbacks with a hawk rate of 27.7%. That is the percentage of targets in which a defender either defends a pass or snags an interception. In fact, Turner was tied for third among all cornerbacks with 18 deflected passes. All of that was done while covering the other team's best wide receiver, which is a testament to the coaching staff's belief in Turner's abilities.

          But it wasn't enough to garner any postseason accolades. And it also meant one of the old adages in football was true in this case -- it takes one year to build momentum for honors and a second year to truly cash in.

          "I'm not even getting into all that -- for real," Turner told ESPN this spring during offseason workouts. "I'm just taking care of myself.

          "After what happened last year, I'm just locking into my film, who's in front of me, my teammates, winning. Everything else will take care of itself."

          That is reflected in how he has approached this offseason.

          Last Sunday, Bengals assistant coach Chuck Burks was hanging out at home with his fiancée, Bethany, when his phone buzzed at 9:35 p.m.

          It was Turner sending his position coach ideas on how to defend different receivers and how other cornerbacks around the league put themselves in successful positions. The texts have become a regular occurrence as Turner grows as a player who is circled on opposing game plans.

          "I thought he has definitely grown over the years not only as a player, but as a person," Burks told ESPN on Thursday. "And I would say I've just been impressed with his intentionality in every aspect of being a professional athlete."

          Turner is holding the same mentality when it comes to contract negotiations as well. The fourth-year player out of Michigan represents one of the major financial decisions facing the Bengals at the start of training camp. Both Turner and Dax Hill, a fellow starting outside cornerback who was teammates with Turner in college, are entering the final years of their current contracts.

          What makes this even more complicated is the explosive growth of cornerback salaries in recent years. This offseason, the Los Angeles Rams traded for Trent McDuffie and made him the highest-paid cornerback at $31 million a year. An analysis of data from OverTheCap.com shows the top 10 average values for cornerback contracts average out to $24.7 million annually.

          Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn, who manages the team's salary cap, said the team "loves" both Turner and Hill but acknowledged getting both signed to new deals could be tricky.

          "We obviously have our work cut out for us as to how to try to figure out how to retain them while we have the other commitments that we have," she said.

          But that hasn't fazed Turner as he gets ready for this season. His belief, much like the one shared around the building and in the locker room, is that everything will fall into line if he and the Bengals accomplish what they believe they can.

          "Everybody eats when you win," Turner said. "Everybody. So yeah, winning is fun."