The Cincinnati Bengals may have landed one of the most physically gifted defenders in the 2025 NFL Draft, but they haven’t landed a deal with him yet.
According to USA Today‘s Jacob Camenker, Shemar Stewart, the Bengals’ first-round pick out of Texas A&M, is holding out of on-field activities over a contract dispute, one that centers not around money, but language.
Cincinnati reportedly added a clause that could allow the team to void all future guarantees in Stewart’s deal if he defaults in any single year, a protection that goes far beyond what’s been used in similar rookie contracts.
Stewart, who was taken No. 17 overall, has been present in meetings and film sessions but refuses to practice until the issue is resolved.
He made headlines this week after speaking publicly on the matter.
“I’m 100 percent right,” Stewart said. “I’m not asking for anything they haven’t done before. But in their case, they care more about winning arguments than winning more games.”
This doesn’t scream I want more money, this screams that he wasn’t the problem others made him out to be – and to have clauses that no other first-round pick got is absurd.
Why it matters
The Bengals are already dealing with Pro Bowler Trey Hendrickson holding out, and now their top draft pick is in a contractual standoff before ever suiting up.
It’s rare for rookie deals to become public disputes, especially when the money is essentially locked in by the CBA.
But Stewart’s situation could become a landmark moment if it pressures teams to rethink how far they go with contractual protections.
Will tempers flare?
They already have, as Adam Schefter reported via his X account, that Shemar has left minicamp.
Stewart has every right not to sign this contract and to feel the way he does.
In this whole situation in Cincinnati, it’s hard not to be on the players' side.