With training camp days away, the Cincinnati Bengals don’t seem close to getting a contract done with first-round pick Shemar Stewart. In fact, the defensive end seems closer to a return to college than playing in the NFL. According to Cover 3 podcaster Bud Elliott, Stewart has been spending the offseason training at Texas A&M, the school he just left for the draft.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Bengals website.
“He’s been at College Station,” Elliott said. “He’s been fully involved in workouts. He could try to come back and play again this season and go into the draft again next year.”
Elliott notes such a move isn’t allowed by the NCAA. Once the January deadline for underclassmen to declare and withdraw passes, they can’t double back to the college game. But many of the NCAA’s rules and procedures have been challenged in recent years and the NIL aspect of college football blurs the line between amateur and pro. If Stewart and a couple of lawyers are up for the fight, they could push a court system to allow a player in Stewart’s shoes to return to the college game.
Of course, the mere fact Stewart is practicing at his alma mater isn’t a guarantee he is eyeing a return to it. Players need somewhere to practice during this lull between minicamps and training camps and returning to his college campus is unusual but not the most outlandish idea.
That this is even a discussion stems from a prolonged contract stall between Stewart and the team. The Bengals are attempting to include a clause in his deal that would void future money under certain conditions despite the fact first-round deals are supposed to be fully guaranteed. Other NFL teams have the same clause but until this year, Cincinnati had never tried to insert it into one of its contracts. Stewart’s agency doesn’t want to be the first to take the plunge and has drawn a line against it. Declining to sign an injury waiver standard for unsigned draft picks, Stewart missed all of rookie minicamp, OTAs, and mandatory minicamp.
Ugly and unusual as the situation is, the odds are still against Stewart attempting to play for Texas A&M again much less actually pulling it off. At some point, Cincinnati and Stewart’s camp will come to an agreement and get him signed. From there, he’ll be playing catch up to make an impact in his rookie year for a Bengals pass rush that has many questions, including a separate contract dispute between the team and star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson.
