As Shemar Stewart continues to engage in a unique contract dispute with the Bengals, the first-round rookie will not practice with his new squad. However, Stewart was in the building for the first day of mandatory minicamp.
[RELATED: Details Revealed Regarding Shemar Stewart-Bengals Contract Dispute]
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, the rookie defensive lineman was in attendance for the start of minicamp today, but he doesn’t intend to hit the practice field until he inks his rookie contract. The stare down has gone on for more than a month, as the player’s camp pushes against a clause that would “turn a default in any given year into a void of all remaining guarantees” (per Florio).
This is a new tactic from the Bengals front office, as recent Day 1 picks signed contracts that simply voided the guarantees for the year in which the default occurred. Cincinnati also apparently 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.
This seems like a relatively minor detail that could be hammered out quickly, but the two sides continue to struggle to find common ground on the generally straight-forward rookie pact. Even Stewart admitted to reporters that he expected to be on the practice field by now.
“Very bad,” Stewart responded when asked how badly he wants to practice (via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer). “I’ve been doing this for most of my whole life, then all of a sudden it’s gone over something very simple to fix. It’s kind of disappointing.”
As the rookie pushes back against a new precedent set by the Bengals front office, he has the support of the locker room. Stewart told reporters that his veteran teammates have told him he’s doing the right thing by pushing for a more traditional rookie contract (via Jay Morrison of BengalsTalk.com).
Stewart’s dispute with the organization comes as Trey Hendrickson is in a public showdown with the organization. The rookie pointed to his veteran teammate’s absence when addressing his own “hold-in.”
“We all agree Trey will be alright,” Stewart said (via Jordan Schultz of FOX Sports). “But technically he’s still 1% wrong for being under contract. In my case, I’m 100% right.”
Considering the uncertainty surrounding Hendrickson’s future in Cincy, the Bengals would surely want their first-round pick on the practice field sooner than later. Still, it sounds like neither side is inclined to blink, meaning this staring contest could continue for the foreseeable future.
Even by Bengals standards, trying to give your first rounder a worse contract than you gave your previous two at lower picks is nickel and dime BS.
That is their standard.
That’s pretty low, mister. If I had a rubber hose, I would beat you-!
If sounds like it’s a real “us vs them” mentality of players against the front office. This is not a good look for team management.
Team ownership.
This offseason has been such an embarrassment smh but as usually the Brown family doesn’t care how it affects the team or fanbase
Their idiot fans still buy tickets.
I’m sure the Bengals can win without defensive players, lmao. They do have the great Al Golden running their defense now.
The Bengals are a joke! The NFL players union needs to step in and get the Bengals on board with what all the other rookies have signed….the commissioner needs to start punishing teams that act like this. Mike Brown is the worse owner in football and has been for a long time ..glad I’m not a Bengals fan ..