Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: DJ Ivey becoming important depth piece at cornerback entering third year

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.

38 days remain until the Bengals’ first game of the 2025 season, keeping our focus on cornerbacks with No. 38 DJ Ivey.

DJ Ivey

Age: 25
Year: 3rd
Position: Cornerback
College: Miami
Previous Teams: None
Jersey Number: 38

Ivey enters his third season in the NFL and with the Bengals after being drafted 246th overall in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He spent five years at Miami and played in 58 games (32 starts), recording 17 passes defensed and six interceptions.

Ivey made Cincinnati's roster as a rookie and ended up playing in eight games with appearances on defense in five of them. A torn ACL took him out of the final three games and the first six of the 2024 season, but he ended up playing in all 11 remaining games upon returning from the Physically Unable to Perform list.

Contract Details

Ivey is entering the third year of his four-year, $3,920,656 rookie contract he signed back in 2023. He can earn a base salary of $1.03 million this season, and when adding his signing bonus proration of $20,164, his 2025 salary cap hit amounts to $1,050,164.

Roster Outlook

The most defensive snaps Ivey has repped in a single game is 14, and he's only achieved double-digit snaps in a single game twice, but he's positioned himself to be one of the top five cornerbacks on this roster. He was also on pace to cross 300 special teams snaps had he played the entire 2024 season, so he's got value where it really matters in terms of being active every week.

Ivey has made a positive impression thus far in training camp and an equally promising preseason should make things interesting from a depth chart perspective. Will he become the first cornerback off the bench, or will it be situational? Whatever the case, there's no doubt he's become a roster lock.

Projected role: Backup cornerback

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
• No. 92: B.J. Hill
• No. 91: Trey Hendrickson
• No. 90: Kris Jenkins Jr.
• No. 89: Drew Sample
• No. 88: Mike Gesicki
• No. 87: Tanner Hudson
• No. 86: Kole Taylor
• No. 85: Cam Grandy
• No. 84: Tanner McLachlan
• No. 83: Erick All Jr.
• No. 82: Mitchell Tinsley
• No. 81: Jermaine Burton
• No. 80: Andrei Iosivas
• No. 79: Andrew Coker
• No. 77: Caleb Etienne
• No. 76: Devin Cochran
• No. 75: Orlando Brown Jr.
• No. 74: Jalen Rivers
• No. 73: Andrew Stueber
• No. 71: Amarius Mims
• No. 69: Dante Barnett
• No. 68: Seth McLaughlin
• No. 67: Cordell Volson
• No. 66: Tashawn Manning
• No. 65: Matt Lee
• No. 64: Ted Karras
• No. 63: Dylan Fairchild
• No. 62: Lucas Patrick
• No. 61: Cody Ford
• No. 60: Jaxson Kirkland
• No. 59: Craig Young
• No. 58: Joseph Ossai
• No. 56: Raymond Johnson III
• No. 55: Logan Wilson
• No. 53: Joe Giles-Harris
• No. 52: Cedric Johnson
• No. 51: Isaiah Thomas
• No. 50: Shaka Heyward
• No. 49: Barrett Carter
• No. 48: Cal Adomitis
• No. 47: Shaquan Loyal
• No. 46: William Wagner
• No. 45: Maema Njongmeta
• No. 44: Demetrius Knight Jr.
• No. 43: Jaylen Key
• No. 42: Oren Burks
• No. 41: Nate Brooks
• No. 40: Quali Conley
• No. 39: Lance Robinson