The Cincinnati Bengals remain at a standstill with their first-round pick, Shemar Stewart. After extending both Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in the offseason, the Bengals were short on resources, leaving their defensive centerpiece, Trey Hendrickson, without his desired contract extension.
But things have gone from bad to worse for the franchise with the drama surrounding Stewart’s rookie-scale deal. With tensions escalating at minicamp as the rookie left midway through the ordeal, one insider has a relatively simple solution, if both parties are willing to play ball.
Can the Shemar Stewart-Cincinnati Bengals Contract Dispute Be Fixed?
The dispute arises from a change the Bengals want to make. Typically, contracts for rookies have a predefined structure that teams and players adhere to, albeit with minor differences in terms and conditions.
However, for Stewart, Cincinnati wants to establish a new precedent, one that would essentially void any guarantees the rookie is set to earn in his deal under certain conditions, including but not limited to non-football injuries and off-field issues.
Until last season, the team did not engage in any such practice. The 18th overall pick last year, Amarius Mims, signed a standard contract. However, with Stewart, the Bengals want to change their philosophy, which the rookie disagrees with.
As a result, Stewart has been absent from most offseason activities, including rookie training camp and OTAs. After he left midway through the mandatory minicamp, tensions became even more heated.
But for Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk via NBC Sports, there is a simple solution that could appease both sides. On the matter, the easiest outcome would be to give Stewart the same deal Mims signed last year. But, considering Cincinnati’s plan, Florio offered another alternative:
“To get the change they want, the Bengals need to offer some other change. It could be, for example, a minor change to the signing bonus payout schedule. It could be anything. Make a change to another term, and get the change they want.”
There’s a simple solution to the Bengals’ lingering impasse with DE Shemar Stewart. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Bengals, things are often not simple. https://t.co/zzcUtkVbbR
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) June 13, 2025
A barter system with your potential future defensive superstar isn’t the ideal way to go about things. But as Florio alluded to, “nothing is ever as easy as it could be” with the Cincinnati Bengals. The loss of Stewart at most team activities is robbing both the franchise and the player of a fully developed start to the year.
And for a team that has missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, that isn’t a luxury they can willingly afford.
