There’s still no end in sight to the Bengals/Shemar Stewart standoff. While there’s been some recent speculation that the rookie will eventually have no choice but to report to his new squad, it sounds like the pass rusher’s camp continues to take a stance against the Bengals sudden contract machinations.
The Bengals are attempting to set a new precedent by turning a contract default in any given year into a void of all remaining guarantees. While this is a relatively common inclusion to rookie pacts with other organizations, this is the first time the Bengals are trying to pull off this specific contract language with a first-round selection. Recent Day 1 picks Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims had more traditional language that would only void the season in which the default occurred.
“Contracts are based on precedent,” agent Zac Hiller said during a recent appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “So, when Shemar has never asked for anything more or less protective than any of his teammates, it’s a simple fix. It’s just say, ‘Hey, this is the precedent. Let’s keep the precedent.’”
Hiller noted that Stewart is simply seeking a contract that would be “protective,” and he believes that the Bengals’ push for voided guarantees should have been accompanied by some kind of concession.
“If you want to make changes to your precedent, it should be a negotiation,” Hiller said. “It should be give and take. It shouldn’t just be, ‘Hey, we’re changing this and sign it or go scratch.’”
Stewart has continued to state his desire to play with his new teammates, but with no resolution on the horizon, the first-round pick departed team facilities during the final day of Cincy’s minicamp. While the pass rusher could look to skip the 2025 campaign in an attempt to enter next year’s draft, the efforts may not be in Stewart’s best financial interest.
“All he wants to do is be a Cincinnati Bengal,” Hiller said. “This guy was so excited to get drafted by Cincinnati. All he wants to do is be a Bengal. All he wanted to do was be on the field and show the Cincinnati fans the incredible specimen, person, football player that this team was lucky to draft where they drafted. And he’s not been allowed to do that.”
Bengals front office ladies and gentlemen
Doing a good job. Making a great change and with a player that would not negatively affect us if he doesn’t sign. Let’s wait him and his 4 college sacks out and make us a better franchise as we win with our top flight offense.
Not my point
Trash franchise and crap owner
Let us hear both sides of the story instead of just the agent/salesman/guy trying to get paid. Dude could absolutely be at camp if he wanted to. This is HIS choice. Teams trying to cover their ass, he’s trying to cover his, which I get, but let’s not pretend that he’s a victim here.
At the same time, we have to recognize that the NFL power structure leaves Shemar no kind of control over his own (football) life. He doesn’t get to choose the city he lives in or the team he plays for as a rookie, doesn’t get to negotiate a salary, doesn’t get to negotiate much in the way of terms, and the team that drafted him- whether he wanted to go there or not- can take a cavalier stance on negotiations because the owner will continue to make money whether he signs all his draft picks or none at all, whereas the player is facing one of the rare true paydays of their life and a contract that will set the trajectory on their playing career and, they hope, protect them financially in case of injury or team incompetence. The player is stuck negotiating with someone who doesn’t have to act in good faith. Shemar may not be a victim, but he’s definitely the only sympathetic player in this little drama.
We don’t need two stories as we know the facts. The Bengals are trying to change their contract precedent. Stewart is just asking for the language they’ve been using for their 1st round picks and to not use his contract as a way to introduce terms less favorable to the player. Bengals tried to pull a fast one and got called out on it. But the Bengals will do Bengals things. I think Joe Burrow is going to regret not playing out his contract and moving on to a better run team.
The sudden change in language by the Bengals is what’s at issue. Stewart just wants what fellow Bengal teammates were given in their contracts….wonder if he can simply go play in another league then enter next year’s draft?
How cheap of the bengals, it’s only 19mil over 4 years……
The story under the headline here is the wealth inequality amongst owners. As contracts get more and more expensive as the cap explodes, financial liquidity comes more to the front of the equation.
Brown is a bad owner and a cheapskate. He also isn’t rich like several other owners are. Just one example: The Browns have SPENT more than 400m more than the Steelers in player salary the last five years! With void years and huge bonuses now the norm, This could very easily metastasize into a have and have not issue for the league akin to the premier league and baseball.
Look I’m the first to talk about how the bengals owners suck and how they should sell. But them attempting to modernize their contract structures is not something I’m going to be mad about. Other good teams do this now, for example the eagles. People are just mad at the bengals for doing it because they mess up everything else. Contracts are done by precedent sure, but new precedents can also be made. Hence the ever rising qb contracts. It will always seem “out of the blew” when a team is trying to do something new. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it. Also if you use the league as a whole for signing contracts than there is a precedent for rookie contracts having this language in it set by other teams. I think the bengals owners suck and have botched a lot of things. But the language of this contract isn’t one of them. But knowing the bengals they probably aren’t offering more money upfront to off set the language