Bengals 2025 Roster Breakdown: Myles Murphy rushing for the third year breakout Cincinnati would love to witness

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. 

99 days remain until the Bengals' first game of the 2025 season, so No. 99 Myles Murphy kicks off our series. 

Myles Murphy

• Age: 23
• Year: 3rd
• Position: Defensive end
• College: Clemson
• Previous Teams: None
• Jersey Number: 99

Murphy enters his third season with the Bengals after being drafted 28th overall in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He appeared in all 17 games as a rookie and finished with three sacks, three tackles for loss, and 20 total tackles. His pass rush win rate of 12.7% ranked third out of 13 edge rushers who rushed the passer at least 150 snaps. His win rate dropped to 10.2% in 2024 and he went the entire year sackless in 13 games played. He missed the first four weeks due to a training camp knee injury.

Had Murphy made it out of last August healthy, his second year in Cincinnati may've turned out better. Zero sacks is still zero sacks, and the drop in win % and film to boot showed he just wasn't good enough in the opportunities he received. 

Murphy played 353 snaps, which was an increase of 49 from 2023 despite playing four fewer games, but there's an argument to be made that he should've gotten more opportunities. Sam Hubbard's retirement combined with uncertainty with both Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart do nothing but boost the importance of getting Murphy on the field more often.

Contract details

Murphy is in the third year of his four-year, $12,587,256 rookie contract. He will earn a fully guaranteed base salary of $1,894,296 for the 2025 season, which is also represents his total cash earnings.

When adding on his signing bonus proration of $1,538,592, Murphy's cap hit for the season will be $3,432,888.

Roster outlook

If you put together a list of players who will impact the perception of Al Golden's job performance, Murphy's name may be at the top of it. The speed and power he possesses is why he was drafted in the first round. New coaching and schemes is how Cincinnati hopes it will all be unlocked in year three.

I don't think Stewart will be a starter right away, so the job opposite of Hendrickson is between Murphy and Ossai. The latter may still be the better overall player, but Murphy's promise and base-end size will put him on the field much more than he's experienced the last two years. 

Projected role: Starting defensive end