The Cincinnati Bengals and rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart have made no progress on contract talks as training camp looms, reports say. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the team re-opened contract talks with Stewart late last month, but they did not progress. The two sides have not spoken again since the end of June, at least as of July 3. Although it’s several days since, there are no further reports indicating talks, let alone progress.
Ordinarily, the absence of a contract for a rookie wouldn’t be so alarming, but this case is different. In a rare move, Shemar Stewart has declined to sign a participation waiver, which would allow him to practice. He and his agent have concerns about the verbiage not only with the Bengals’ contract offer, but also with the participation waiver.
Since selecting the edge rusher in the first round, the Bengals have yet to see him on the field. Though he did everything else at rookie minicamp and OTAs, he left before the final day of mandatory minicamp. Stewart had hoped to sign a contract by then, but Cincinnati would not budge.
Exacerbating the issue is the Bengals’ ongoing contract dispute with star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. Despite leading the NFL in sacks last year, they don’t appear to view him contractually within the realm of the highest-paid players. Hendrickson has threatened not to play under his current contract. And Shemar Stewart hasn’t even played a snap yet.
If the Bengals have any worry of Hendrickson not being on the field for the season opener, they are only compounding their issues by potentially stunting Stewart’s growth. A rookie especially needs to learn on the field, and he hasn’t done that yet.
At this point, there are no indications Shemar Stewart will sign a contract before training camp. If he does not, he will, presumably, not show. He is already in this deep, and there is no sense in giving up now. If issues persist with Trey Hendrickson, it would only strengthen his own position. And if he struggles when he does play, he can put it on the front office for not supplying him with an acceptable contract.
One issue as far as we’re concerned is that various reporters have offered various interpretations, perhaps with varying degrees of accuracy or credible sources, about what precisely is at issue with Shemar Stewart’s contract offer. My reading is that it concerns, in part, multiple aspects of guaranteed money.
The Bengals reportedly changed the language in their contracts this year, though similar verbiage is not unique to them. However, his contract does not match the contract signed by last year’s first-round pick Amarius Mims. They drafted Shemar Stewart one slot earlier than Mims, so if anything, he should have more favorable language.
