Shemar Stewart was at the Cincinnati Bengals’ rookie minicamp this weekend, but he didn’t participate.
Stewart hadn’t yet finalized his rookie deal with the Bengals, so he didn’t take the field while not under contract.
Cincinnati took Stewart with the No. 17 overall pick last month to be the team’s next star pass rusher.
Pro Football Talk explained what the hold up in the contract is:
“Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bengals tried to get Stewart signed,” PFT’s Mike Florio writes. “As we understand it, the talks bogged down regarding the percentage of compensation in future years to be paid as a training-camp roster bonus.
“The training-camp roster bonus has become a device for putting a sizable chunk of the player’s pay in his pockets in future years, early in the season. In this case, the numbers offered by the Bengals reflected a lower percentage than the 17th overall pick received in 2024.”
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It’s a really odd thing to haggle over.
If the Bengals believe Stewart was worthy of the 17th overall pick, they should just get the deal over the line.
There’s so much money in all these situations already, what difference does the placement in the timeline make? Stewart is more important to Cincinnati on the field than off it.
It’s likely the Bengals and Stewart will figure this out soon enough.
At the same time, it’s not necessarily how you want to start a relationship with a person in an important role. There are at least tiny bonds that will already need to be mended, hopefully once a contract is actually signed.
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