The Cincinnati Bengals have agreed to a contract extension for nickelback Jalen Davis.
In an offseason when starting cornerbacks Dax Hill and DJ Turner II are each looking to cash in with major extensions of their own, Cincinnati has taken care of its slot corner a couple weeks before every market starts to change in free agency.
Davis will officially sign his new contract Friday, and when he does, he’ll be penciled back in as a starter in the Bengals’ secondary. That’s exactly where his position coach would want him to be.
Bengals cornerbacks coach Charles Burks is hyped to have Jalen Davis back
Davis, who originally joined the roster in the middle of the 2020 season, will return for a sixth offseason in Cincinnati. It will be the fifth with Charles Burks as his position coach.
Burks has been here to coach Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton, and current starters Hill and Turner. Davis stands out to him over all of them in a certain regard.
“Most consistent player I’ve ever coached,” Burks told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. “I have 100% trust in him. He is truly a testament of what it means to have resilience.”
That’s the theme of Davis’ career. He went from a practice squad signing to a member of the active roster for three years, doing the dirty work as a special teamer and reserve at a position that doesn’t rotate with its depth throughout a game. He was halfway through a second consecutive season on the practice squad in 2025 before being called up to start for the remainder of the year.
What Burks and the Bengals felt during that time is why Davis became an easy decision to extend.
“[Davis] makes the people around him better and made us a better defense,” Burks said. “His impact goes far beyond stats. You can’t quantify it, but you can feel it when he is out there with our defense.”
The rest of the offseason will determine how Cincinnati’s secondary will look, but Davis will be a key component of it once again.
