Bengals 1st-round pick Shemar Stewart leaves camp over contract dispute

Shemar Stewart is one of four first-round picks from the 2025 NFL Draft to remain unsigned this late into the offseason, but he’s the only one to now leave camp over a contract dispute. Stewart departed the Cincinnati Bengals‘ minicamp on Thursday to avoid being a distraction to his teammates, per The Athletic.

The source of Stewart and the Bengals’ disagreement is over specific language in his contract – language that isn’t typical of the team’s rookie contracts, but has been inserted into Stewart’s offer. As ESPN reported, the issue is over language that could “potentially void future guaranteed money.”

NBC Sports reported that the language in question was related to a clause that says a “default” by Stewart would void the guarantees of not just the year in which the default occurred, but every remaining year on his deal. Historically, the Bengals have only made a default wipe out the guarantees in which it occurred.

Stewart was vocal about the reasons for not practicing on Wednesday, when he told reporters that “I’m 100 percent right. I’m not asking for nothing y’all have never done before. But in y’all case, y’all just want to win an argument instead of winning more games.” Stewart continued, saying that he has the support of his teammates, which has made things easier on him and his decision: “It’s made it very easy when the people in here, in the locker room, say ‘you’re doing the right things,’ especially the star players.”

The rookie edge rusher, drafted out of Texas A&M University with the 17th pick this spring, had still been attending practice, and taking part in everything that didn’t involve actually taking the field and lining up to play.

What happens next? Stewart does not have to sign with the Bengals, which does give him leverage in these talks. He won’t get to play in the NFL with the Bengals without agreeing to whatever contract they offer up, however, and Cincinnati seems intent on waiting out their first-round pick to ensure that this language remains in the contract, even if it wasn’t previously the norm.

The Bengals would, per the terms of the current collective bargaining agreement, retain Stewart’s rights for the entire 2025 NFL season, should he refuse to sign at any point. Stewart would be eligible to reenter the draft pool for the 2026 NFL Draft, however, and would also be free to play in another football league since he isn’t under contract with the Bengals, if such an opportunity were to arise – however, the Canadian Football League, as an example, has already seen its season begin.

Stewart would not be the first to flex what leverage he has in this way – players like John Elway, Jim Kelly, Bo Jackson, and Eli Manning avoided the teams that drafted them, but their disputes were related to the teams themselves. Stewart’s issue is specific language in his contract. How far he’ll take this dispute, given that, remains to be seen. But either way, the Bengals won’t have their first-round pick active – or even officially a member of the team – until it’s resolved.

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