Contrary to popular belief, the Cincinnati Bengals are not wrong in their contract dispute with Shemar Stewart. Bengals fans and the media keep attributing the standoff to the team's penny-pinching front office. It is not. The national media narrative is wrong and escalating out of control.
Stewart and his reps don’t want the same contract language as the No. 16 and No. 18 overall picks. The Texas A&M product was selected No. 17 overall. They want the clauses from Bengals’ past first-round picks, while getting paid more than Cincinnati’s recent first-round selections.
Stewart and his representatives don’t want the same contract language as Abdul Carter, who was picked No. 3 overall (!) and plays the same position.
The Bengals' reputation precedes them, but they aren't wrong in Shemar Stewart contract standoff
As no one will let you forget this offseason, the Bengals are a “mom and pop” franchise. They are cheap and don’t have a lot of money. Therefore, they should be made fun of. However, that narrative is not playing as well within Bengaldom as it does outside the Jungle walls.
Stewart is not getting support from the Bengals’ fan base. They know when Cincinnati is being cheap. And this ain’t that.
Speaking of reputations, Cincinnati’s fan base was not overly enthusiastic about Stewart being the pick in the first place. A pass rusher with lackluster sack output in college is not what fans expected as the Bengals search to improve their defense. But that is less about the player and more about the scouting department.
Zac Hiller and LAA Sports and Entertainment represent Stewart. The young agents probably only know the Bengals through their cheap reputation. And they are using it to try to bully the team into submission. But they are also using that unflattering rhetoric to gaslight their client, as the kids would say.
Shemar Stewart's only support is from predictable places
Stewart doesn’t have much support from inside the locker room, if any. He and Trey Hendrickson are not the same. Do not expect Hendrickson, Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, or Tee Higgins to throw their support behind Stewart in this conflict.
There isn’t public support coming from other agents because their clients’ contracts have the clause that Stewart’s reps are fighting against. That includes Drew Rosenhaus, who is the agent for the New York Giants’ third-overall pick, Abdul Carter.
The support he does have comes only from a very loud national audience, such as Craig Carton, Mark Schlereth, or Pat McAfee, who continue to play the same note: that the Bengals' front office is cheap and behind the times. That should not play well this offseason after all the deals they made. Yet, for some reason, it does.
Last week, we learned from Craig Carton and the "Breakfast Ball" crew on FS1 that Stewart’s dad asked if his son could get traded.
To who? Where would he go? Contrary to what Carton proclaims, the Bengals are not doing something unprecedented. Other teams are putting the same language that he doesn’t want into their contracts.
Carton, a few days later, said Stewart was “chosen by the wrong team.” No argument here about that. But he would go on to state the Bengals “don’t want to guarantee it,” referring to the guaranteed money that he will have in his contract, which is blatantly false and misleading.
Carton's running mate, Mark Schlereth, proclaimed the Bengals’ front office the “loser of the week” for two consecutive weeks.
Front-office ridicule is nothing new for Bengals fans. But because this is nothing new, they are experts at recognizing when the team is not putting their best foot forward.
Fans also recognize when the national media, YouTube, and TikTok spins are being hypocritical. Do you want the Bengals to catch up to the times or not? This clause is catching up with the times.
Is Shemar Stewart simply receiving bad advice?
The NFLPA urged players not to sign contracts with that language in them. They lost that battle long before the Bengals attempted to introduce it into their contracts.
The most infamous example of this happening is when the Detroit Lions voided the future guarantees of Jameson Williams after his suspension for violating gambling rules.
Williams was the No. 12 overall pick in 2022. That means the Lions have had this clause in their contracts since at least then. What this does not mean is that Detroit voided his contract or that he will lose money. Not only did signing a contract with that clause not cost him money, but Williams is on the verge of getting a contract extension.
Also, add agent Rocky Arceneaux of Alliance Sports to the growing list of agents who probably will not publicly support Stewart’s stance, as he is Williams’ agent.
Hiller’s only first-round draft pick on his roster is Zay Flowers of the Baltimore Ravens. Flowers does not have this clause within his contract. Perhaps this is contributing to the hardball tactics. Hiller does not want one of his clients to sign a contract clause that the other one did not.
However, to act like this contract language is somehow a Cincinnati Bengals’ issue is acting in bad faith.
If Stewart were to re-enter the draft in 2026, which he could consider if an agreement is not reached by July 22, he has more of a chance to land with a team with that particular stipulation than not.
Maybe the play is to get Stewart to the Ravens somehow. After all, Baltimore is one of the few teams left that do not require this clause in their first-rounder’s contract.
It just so happens that Baltimore is also where most of Hiller’s most recent clients played. Of his five most recent active NFL players, three -- Flowers, J.K. Dobbins, and Dalvin Cook -- played, or are playing, with the Ravens.
The Bengals should not give in. They should strongly consider calling Stewart’s bluff. Anyway, they don’t have much to trade in negotiations, considering that the money is slotted. At this point, the options are for Cincy to relent, Stewart signs the contract on the table, or he does not play.
Or perhaps they should do what Stewart’s father suggested and make a trade within the AFC North with the Ravens.
Nevertheless, bad advice does not fit the rhythm of “the Bengals are a cheap franchise” beat. But as George Lucas once said, ‘It’s like poetry, it rhymes.”
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