More details have emerged regarding the contract dispute between the Bengals and their first-round pick, Shemar Stewart, who has yet to sign his rookie deal.
Stewart has not participated in any on-field practices since being drafted, though he has attended team meetings. He sat out rookie minicamp and is poised to remain on the sidelines when OTAs kick off next week unless his demands are met.
Initial reports indicated that the timing of bonus payments were the source of the dispute. Cincinnati proposed a payment schedule that did not match that of Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims, the team’s first-round picks in 2023 and 2024. That issue seems to have been resolved, but the two sides still disagree on default language.
Specifically, the Bengals want to include a clause in Stewart’s contract “that causes a default in the current year to trigger a default in all remaining years,” per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Essentially, if Stewart were to default in one year of his contract, the rest of his contract would automatically default, voiding the remaining money on his fully guaranteed rookie deal.
Mims does not have the same language in his contract, though he was taken with the 18th pick in 2024 and Stewart was drafted one spot earlier at No. 17 this year. The recently signed contracts of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins don’t contain a similar default clause, either.
Defaults are rare in the NFL. They happen when a player breaches the terms of his contract, typically by sustaining an injury while participating in a prohibited activity or committing conduct detrimental to the team. Stewart certainly has no intention of triggering a default, but it remains a possibility against which he wants to protect himself.
But why refuse to participate at all over a relatively minor contract detail? Stewart could still sign his rookie waiver and get on the field, but he appears to be standing on principle and holding the Bengals to their contract precedent. Cincinnati has typically lagged behind the rest of the NFL when negotiating with players, particularly in terms of guaranteed money. Stewart is witnessing firsthand the struggle of fellow edge rusher Trey Hendrickson to reach a favorable agreement with the team and is sending a clear message that he will not accept a contract with unfavorable terms, now or in the future.
Stewart also has leverage in this situation. If Hendrickson refuses to budge, the Bengals could be without their best defensive player heading into the regular season. At that point, Stewart would be called upon to step up as a pass rusher and may struggle to produce if he misses valuable developmental time this summer. His profile as a raw athlete with unrefined technique suggests that Cincinnati has extra motivation to get him practicing as soon as possible.
The Bengals just seem to always make things up as they go along.
As a Steeler fan I’ve always known that Pittsburgh has a certain way of doing business with players, although Omar Khan has started to break some of these precedents. The Steelers never negotiate during the season; they don’t talk about extensions before the last year of the contract; etc.,etc. Some people might see them as cheap, and in a sense they are (Rooney family has the smallest net worth of any NFL owners currently). But they’re usually consistent. They can say if they want to “Look, this is how we do things, we didn’t make exceptions for your teammates X and Y, so we’re going to follow the same rules here”.
The Bengals, at least in my view, as just cheap, and inconsistently cheap at that. They don’t like to reward their own players unless forced to, and they take every situation on a case by case basis with little to no regard of how they handled previous negotiations. And their players notice it too, and many don’t appreciate it.
As a Bengals fan. Tomlinson said something in 2012 that made me want the Steelers to keep him as their HC. Now here we are. Was I wrong?
Tomlin
I’m actually trying to empathize with Bengal fans. Your team’s leadership has been inconsistent at best, in my opinion. As for Tomlin, effective (or not) coaching is a completely different topic; for the record, those who frequently read comments here will tell you that I am much, much less of a Tomlin defender now than even one or two years ago. And I’m a major critic of current Steeler owner Art Rooney II.
If the Steelers move on from Tomlin, then there would be more than 12 teams lining up to hire him. Every team wants to be Super Bowl champions every year, and only one team gets to go home happy when it is all said and done. The Steelers play meaningful football games in December every year, and the fan base is bored with winning. Getting bored with winning is a mistake. As a Seahawks fan, I was sorry to see Pete go and hope he has a ton of success in Las Vegas. The Seahawks are not better because he left, and the Steelers would not be better if they had some random coordinator from last year’s flavor of the month.
AI writing everything we read nowadays. Do better. SMH.
So the Bears aren’t the only organization dumb enough to alienate a rookie before they even get his signature on a contract. I feel better now.
No. But the Bears are in the bottom quartile of ownership. That is not disputable.
Worst organization in football. I feel bad for Bengals fans.
The Jets, Browns, Jags, Dolphins, Titans, Panthers, Giants and Saints would all like a word.
You gotta give them credit. They’ve been able to go this far with their top players without losing any of them. Now they might have Hendrickson hold out until he gets a massive deal at the end of preseason, not as much as he thinks he will get, compared to other teams, that would definitely pay. I imagine they’re using Stewart as leverage, plus a rookie deal. It’s not hard seeing his point that’s it, or they’re low balling him, and he knows it. But sooner enough, another team will bulk, it won’t be the Bengals, might not get a massive haul, but will save a lot. Also, give their rookie just enough over asking, not what he’s looking for. To me, it’s smart and a win-win situation financially. Their head coach is very stubborn, he’s been given more chances because of the super bowl, the injuries, then they might have to think are they going to have to start over or do they not even think about it. They can ride it out, have another season that amounts to nothing, and have all those late games where they lose, or the games where they get blown out. Maybe they’ll do good. That’s a lot to consider. So I can see why they are making the decisions they have been making. It’s not going to make everybody happy, maybe it’s the wrong decision, but right now it seems like it’s probably their best option. They could mix things up, have their best player leave. But one player can disrupt, but also makes a big difference on the other side of the ball it’s making a bigger statement, and that’s kind of how I think the Bengals are rolling, whether I agree with it or not. Now other teams might not, but this team has locked up their top players, and have had some players that have been disgruntled, but a lot of them, know that they want to play with those top guys, and know that maybe on another team, they might not get that opportunity, with their usage. Now for Hendrickson, I view that situation a little differently. He has a point, and is their decision maker, on defense. He thinks they need him, much much than they need him, and I think he’ll find that, the right opportunity even if you feel some sort of way, might not be that different even if there’s a need. I think he just has to see how worth it is it, whether he wants to stay for a role that’s changed, for might be the same money, maybe more and not that much better of a team, or get lucky and go to the Ravens. I think he wins by staying. Unless there’s there’s a team that can counter the Bengals offer. They are giving off a reputation, maybe that’s not how it really is, which is probably right, but the way these negotiations have played out, have certainly made that impression, which simulatenously regardless of your intentions, does leave a bad impression on other teams wanting you. I understand his point of view, but it does scare off other teams, so maybe he’s not that way, but I don’t know how much another team is willing to offer, given his situation, and the Bengals asking price, and I find that’s more where the difficulty is in, given they want a lot, but they’re making it difficult for anyone to aquire him, and having him seem like he’s unreasonable, when they say they want him, he says he wants to stay, they won’t pay him, & make it impossible to trade him, with their asking price, acting like it’s the same as his contract demand, when it’s their team, says they have value, but they’re wanting too much, then turn around and act like it’s just him. Crazy, no wonder he’s mad. And messing up with messaging. Hope they straighten it out. That’s tough. He’s only like 30, too. He’s good, it’s a shame. But I’m sure they’re saying they’re prioritizing needs. With their lack of messaging. & I’m sure that’s where the discontent is. Really I do. Don’t think they necessarily mean it all that much. How it truly sounds.
Looks like we may have a challenger to AK185 in the brevity competition 🙂
I yield.
I agree with many of your points. The format did make it slightly harder to read, but I think you’re right on what you said.