1:00 p.m.: Knight’s signing bonus includes the same upfront payout percentage as past Bengals second-rounders, according to Conway, indicating that the team was holding out on his payment schedule in addition to the disputed default/void language.
Stewart appears to be fighting the same terms from Cincinnati, but it is unclear if he would be willing to make the same deal as Knight.
11:04 a.m. The Bengals have reached an agreement with second-round pick Demetrius Knight on a four-year rookie contract, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.
The deal comes on the day that the team’s rookies are due to report to Cincinnati for training camp. Knight is expected to compete with fourth-round rookie Barrett Carter and veteran Oren Burks for the right to start at linebacker alongside Logan Wilson.
Almost 80% of Knight’s deal is fully guaranteed, and he is also the first No. 49 pick in league history to receive guaranteed salary in Year 4. For context, Kris Jenkins, the No. 49 pick in 2024 (coincidentally, also by the Bengals), had less than 70% of his rookie contract fully guaranteed, per Spotrac.
Every member of Cincinnati’s 2025 draft class is now under contract except for first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who did not participate in spring practices and remains a holdout over default and void language in his contract.
Knight was opposed to the same default and void language as Stewart, but accepted it in his final contract in exchange for receiving 75% of his signing bonus at signing, according to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Despite the name, signing bonuses do not automatically pay out in full when a player puts pen to paper. Instead, payment schedules are a term to be negotiated along with the rest of the contract. Rather than remove or change the language Knight objected to, the Bengals simply offered him an improvement elsewhere in the deal (which they could have done all along).
The team has not made same offer to Stewart, per Conway, but since it resolved the impasse with Knight, it is probably worth a try. As of now, however, the Bengals’ negotiations with Stewart have made “no progress,” according to Schultz, and the former Texas A&M standout remains the only first-rounder leaguewide who has yet to sign his rookie deal.
Here’s a look at the rest of the Bengals’ 2025 draft class:
- Round 1, No. 17: Shemar Stewart (DE, Texas A&M)
- Round 2, No. 49: Demetrius Knight (LB, South Carolina) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 81: Dylan Fairchild (G, Georgia) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 119: Barrett Carter (LB, Clemson) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 153: Jalen Rivers (T, Miami) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 193: Tahj Brooks (RB, Texas Tech) (signed)
So they are willing to bend in order to get their second round pick signed who had the same issue with the new verbiage, but they still can’t find an amenable solution to Stewart?
Different players. Different dollars involved between first and second rounders.
Yet every single sportswriter and announcer announce out loud ‘build around a QB on a rookie contract!’. Build a D around a rookie contract as well. Hendrickson’s contract would be over by the time they need to re-up Stewart.
Bungles are cheap.
The Bengals Derangement Syndrome has hit epic levels. Destroy them for negotiating. Destroy them for getting guys signed.. It’s crazy. Knight handled himself 100% differently than Stewart has throughout this process. Stewart is a clown. I’m never one to defend Brown Family Inc, however it seems pretty clear Stewart and his agent are the bigger issues in that specific situation.
If Stewart and his agent would be willing to sign if not for contract language that’s different than all the Bengals’ previous first round picks got, then how are they the issue and not the Bengals?
From what I have been reading several other teams use the exact language in their contracts. This is just the first time the Bengals are using it. It has to start somewhere and I guess the Bengals decided to start with Stewart. Bad luck, but nothing more.
Why would he or his agent agree to that if their previous first round picks—taken at lower picks—didn’t? Especially when dealing with a team they know won’t give a millimeter in negotiations in the future if he’s any good.