Bengals Make Tacario Davis Contract Decision Ahead of Training Camp

Tacario Davis entered the 2026 NFL Draft carrying one of the most physically unique profiles in the entire cornerback class. At 6-foot-4 and 194 pounds, with 34-inch arms and a wingspan just shy of 81 inches, Davis was the largest wingspan among all defensive backs at the combine. 

But the medical concerns that surfaced during the pre-draft process, specifically a hamstring injury that hampered his performance at the combine and questions about his hip fluidity in transition, caused him to slip past the second round entirely, landing in the Cincinnati Bengals’ lap at pick 72.

The Bengals didn’t hesitate to select Davis, and have now made things official with the 21-year-old one month after the draft. 

The franchise announced Wednesday that Davis has signed his four-year rookie contract, making him the sixth of the team’s seven 2026 draft selections to put pen to paper. Second-round pick Cashius Howell remains the only unsigned member of the class. 

Davis spent his first three seasons at Arizona before transferring to Washington for his final year in 2025. Across 37 career games and 29 starts, he totaled 95 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 25 pass breakups, three interceptions, and one fumble recovery. 

His 2023 campaign at Arizona was his most productive, finishing second in the Pac-12 in passes defensed, consistently disrupting timing with his length at the line of scrimmage and closing passing windows even when his positioning wasn’t perfect.

Zac Taylor spoke to reporters after the draft about what he sees in Davis. “I like all of his athletic traits,” Taylor said. “To be able to add a corner to that room with that kind of length — Dax has good length, DJ has got good length. To add to those types of guys in that area I think complements the DJ Turners of the world really well.” 

Davis will step into some competition at cornerback. Dax Hill and DJ Turner II are the projected outside starters, but with both players in contract years, there is a clear path for Davis to become a starter as early as next season. Until then, he’ll likely be deployed as a depth piece and development project, with Al Golden having already signaled an interest in deploying him in specific third-down packages, particularly against larger tight ends where his size advantage is most pronounced.

Davis can play slot cornerback as well, having logged 37 snaps there during his college career, though the outside is where he projects best at the professional level.  The comparison that has followed him throughout the evaluation process is Tariq Woolen, the Seattle Seahawks cornerback who shared similar measurements and developed into one of the better boundary corners in the NFC.