Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.
Today, we put cornerback DJ Ivey back in the spotlight. Last year’s seventh-round selection took many by surprise as he earned a roster spot as a rookie, but his first year ended prematurely due to injury. His ongoing recovery now clouds how his second year in Cincinnati will look like.
DJ Ivey
- Age: 24
- Year: 2nd
- Position: Cornerback
- College: Miami (Fla.)
- Previous Teams: None
- Jersey Number: 38
Ivey was drafted by the Bengals with the 246th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He spent five seasons at Miami with 58 games played on his resume, with 32 of them being starts. 2019 was his first year with an expanded role and he notched what ended up being a career-high three interceptions for the season. For his career, he logged 127 tackles, six interceptions, four tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, and a sack.
Ivey was the last of eight picks the Bengals made last year, but that didn’t stop him from making an impression during his first offseason. He earned significant reps during training camp that led to him leading the defense in passes defensed (three) during preseason action. He made the initial 53-man roster and took the field for first time in Week 5. The majority of his playing time occurred from Week 11-14, with Week 14 being his standout performance featuring his first-career pass breakup and fumble recovery on punt coverage against the Indianapolis Colts.
Everything was clicking for Ivey until he tore his ACL the following game in Week 15. There was no doubt that his season ended, but how would the recovery impact his second year? That’s what we’ve yet to learn.
Contract details
Ivey signed a four-year, $3,920,656 deal with the Bengals last year in April that will pay him the minimum salary for a player with his level of experience for the 2024 season.
His salary will cost $915,00 for the entire season if he’s kept on the team for the entire regular season, but with a $20,164 signing bonus prorated throughout the deal, his cap hit for this season will be $935,164.
Roster chances
Ivey feels like a true roster bubble candidate. If he was 100% healthy to start camp, he’d be a favorite to round out the cornerback position. Instead, he’ll almost surely start camp on the Non-Football Injury list and be limited to the rehab field while other young cornerbacks like fifth-round pick Josh Newton take reps in his place.
That the cornerback position is ripe for competition will only make Ivey’s absence sting more. And since we don’t know when he’ll be back on the field, we can’t feel overly confident about him keeping a spot.
An optimistic way of looking at his case is the Bengals shelve Ivey for the preseason and keep a spot open for him on the initial 53. After that’s done, the team can then place him on the PUP list to begin the season, and replace him on the active roster with a healthy player. This wouldn’t be a surprising route for them to take considering the strides he made just as a rookie.
Ivey may not play an actual game for a while, but if I had to say one way or the other, I’d bet the team stashes him on a reserve list if needed. That requires keeping him during final cuts.
Chances of making the roster: 55%
Previous player breakdowns
- Kwamie Lassiter II
- Domenique Davis
- Nate Gilliam
- Shaka Heyward
- Jaxson Kirkland
- Devin Cochran
- Justin Blazek
- Tre Mosley
- Cam Grandy
- PJ Jules
- Eric Miller
- Michael Dowell
- Lance Robinson
- Noah Cain
- Elijah Collins
- Rocky Lombardi
- Cole Burgess
- Aaron Casey
- Maema Njongmeta
- Austin McNamara
- Devonnsha Maxwell
- Matt Lee
- Daijahn Anthony
- Cedric Johnson
- Tanner McLachlan
- Josh Newton
- Travis Bell
- Allan George
- Shedrick Jackson
- Jeff Gunter
- Kendric Pryor
- Jake Browning
