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They're adding language that protects against their own poor judgement. They want a warranty, and warranties come with money up front. This isn't a "Code of Conduct", this is a multi-million dollar contract. And absolutely no one knows what the actual language is, and if other NFL teams use it. Period. If you say you do, you're delusional. All we have is conflicting media reports. And exactly what has Stewart done to warrant this new language? You expect him to accept these new terms when he has been a model citizen all his life? Why do you suddenly need to protect yourself from bad behavior with this kid? What are you accusing him of? What the fuck angle could you possibly be taking here? Because they didn't have this language in Burton's contract? So... A guy with no concerns should accept a potential multi-million dollar loss that a third round pick wasn't subject to last year. Nice. All Stewart has to do is accept it... And all Katie, or whatever inbred cousin is negotiating this particular deal, has to do is drop it. And it's a lose lose for both sides. And I don't want the Bengals to lose. So, it seems that losing out on valuable camp time with a 1st round pick so you might be able to claw back the money from an insignificant rookie deal... What... Maybe $4M per year in a league with a $300M cap? What are you more upset about... Jermaine Burton being a waste of a 3rd round pick, or him being a waste of a $1.3m cap hit? If Shemar Stewart gets caught at a Diddy party, are you going to be fine with it because we have a little more cap space? It'll be slim solace for a team that blew a first round pick during Joe's window. You showed enough faith in the guy to take him in the first round... Now it's cold feet time? NOW you're not sure and need a little extra insurance? Easier than hiring scouts I guess. People say Mims didn't sign until July 22nd. And Trent Brown started the early games, played badly, and we lost two in a row to start the season. Like... How do the people on this board not see the glaring A -> B correlation here? This this constant rinse, lather, repeat of contract disputes with team cornerstones and draft picks leads to slow starts and wasted potential? So... YOU'RE cheering for Katie to get a little guarantee against the guy SHE picked being a shit head instead of just signing the guy and getting him ready?? I mean, it seems like there's a good contingent here that is all "old man yells at sky" about what NFL players make now. "Why, back in my day guys played for a sock full of nickels and you could fill up yer tank for $5. Now they are all greedy pigs who actually want a piece of those Billion dollar TV deals that have doubled the value of Mike and Katie's franchise over 20 years. The nerve! Buncha young douchey kids as their agents - they wouldn't last one day down at the mill I tells ya! Heck, if I was Shemar Stewart I would pay them to play just out of gratitude." Get a grip Grandpa. This isn't 1988 and a $37M salary cap anymore. And Amazon doesn't pay a Billion dollars to watch Katie balance her checkbook on Sundays. You keep telling us what guys are worth, and you keep being wrong. No way JJ Watt is worth that much... And the market keeps "overpaying" these guys while you talk about bread being a nickel when you were a kid. But tell me again what you think is "fair". Take them eggs on up to the counter and tell them you're only willing to pay the "fair" price in your head and see how many omlettes you make. Only a damn commie would charge more than $3 a dozen! At the end of the day, I want the Bengals to succeed. And having a pissing contest with your first round pick - to my mind - is counterproductive to that goal. And again... It's a lose lose. Shemar Stewart being 1% less ready to play football on Week One is bad for both him and the Bengals. He could just accept it, but they could also just drop it. Have the Bengals NEEDED this for past first rounders? No. Why now? Just freaking sign the guy. And if you really CAN'T sign the guy without some guarantees... Do a better job scouting and get your picks in camp on time. Damn. If Shemar Stewart does have to be cut in year one and his guarantees voided... Getting back $4M in cap space for a team that is constantly at least $10M under the cap... I mean... C'mon. Yay. We aren't paying a first round pick who had a shorter career than Akili Smith. All is well. But every day that passes we increase the chances that he starts slow, doesn't give us the effort... At a position we have a dire need at right now.

I'd like to see a better running game. It would make the offense more versatile and harder to stop. 3rd and 2 is usually a passing down for the Bengals but if we could run better, we'd convert at a higher rate. But we couldn't run because our interior offensive line are bad at run blocking. Karras at least was good at pass blocking, Volson and Cappa not so much. If we had a good running game, as our 80s Super Bowl teams did, we'd have an elite offense. We could close out games with a 4th quarter lead. We could play in windy or wet conditions. We'd be less predictable and put more stress on opposing defenses. Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason were NFL MVPs on teams with good running games. Maybe that would work for Joe Burrow too.

It would be less frustrating if it wasn't a pattern of behavior on the part of Katie and Co. Every year it's some camp holdout. Every year we're one of the last to get our rookies signed. I mean - Is the agent the problem? Sure, that's his job. But it's not like other agents aren't problems for other teams. Tee changed agents to find someone more compatible with the Bengals and there was still some teeth pulling. Is Trey just greedy? Then so is Chase, Higgins... The NFL pays out a lot in salary because it makes a lot of money off these guys. Meh. Should Stewart just roll over and accept new language because other teams do it? Sure, maybe, but Mims was the last to sign... Hill didn't go down smooth either. All of the names change in these very similar stories except those of the Blackburn clan. I mean.... Damn. What a run of bad luck, hunh? I guess nice guys really do finish last. What are the odds that both of our RDE's have idiot agents and would rather talk to the media than play football. Why us? Life is unfair. Everyone's judged by their mistakes divided by how much money they make.

By the way, I passed my FAA Medical Exam this afternoon. My flight status has been restored, I'm a pilot again. :)

laziness. no one researches anymore, like 3 guys have inside info, if that, aside from that the "media" isnt exactly filled with people who have degrees in journalism, worked thier way up, build relationships, its a bunch of dudes like you and me, who started a youtube podcast, and just have done it the longest, hell i had a media pass for the bengals just from having this forum back in the day. and thats when there was KIND of some criteria to meet.. I could get a media pass today, no problem. so you cant possible watch any of these podcast or media twitter accounts and think these guys are leaving their office chair and actually doing stuff right? even at practice and camp, 5-20 media folks stand there with their iphones, record clips for twitter, joke with eachother, talk about lunch, use said phone to poorly record interviews, all think the same thing, and post it.. they need followers they need hits, they need shares, they need subscribers.. the #1 only thing they do not need what so ever.. is to be right or put in effort or learn anything. the bengals PR team sends them information to release, and they do it, rarely, as the bengals dont do contract stuff in the media, but other things, health stuff signing stuff, etc.. then agents reach out, look at the video i posted... Dingleberry did his own fact checking and contract details around the league.. the stewerts agent reached out to him, pissed and got him to sway back some.. why? because goodberry needs that connect, and if he does his bidding a little, when goodberry reaches out, the agent might reply. 15 years ago, guys would chase down family members, get a cousin to leak info, fat boy andre smiths agent, alvin keels emailed me then text me wanting me to post positive stuff about him during the contract issues, and the proof? it works. look at all of you, look at everyone on social media.. they dont care about any of the facts, its easy and lazy to zap the bengals, they wont dispute or fight back, they ignore it.. so they are easy to slander.. and everyone gets an east post, podcast episode (or 10), no one cares about the facts or details, not even a little bit. no one cares about anything, they just wanna check a box for their day, get some clicks if possible, and go back to doom scrolling on instagram and twitter. all of the sports media, scouts sites, analysts, all for show and clicks, look at collinsowrth, he doesnt give a fuck about anything, he wants some zingers for the show and to go home. and everyone behaves as if we have good reliable crack journalism. its laughable. how many different stories over what the "language" in the contract relates to have been posted in this thread alone? 8? 5? a whole lot more than 1... how many weeks did it take for ANYONE to bring to light that the language is in the majority of first round contracts, its just new for the bengals to add it.... ? hell the hundred or so people who supposidly love and follow the team and gobble every media tidbit there is, still think mike brown is in these contract negotiations. people believe what they want. facts arent a part of the equation any longer. havent been in 10 years.

It was reported pre draft that his agent was a dick and had an aggressive style with teams for workouts. So I would guess he's trying to make a name for himself as the next Jerry McGuire / Mulugheta. But even with all that said and even if his Jersey Shore sleeze ball agents suck ass, why the fuck are the Bengals giving them ammunition by changing the language? Just delay this precedent until next year at this point. It's not a hill worth dying on.

2 years into an NFL career and he's learned he needs to be in good shape. Who knows what's next? Paying attention in meetings? Watching film? The sky's the limit!

Bengals offseason blueprint: 1. Sign Jamar & hopefully Tee - Check 2. Extend Trey 3. Draft a young Edge 4. Sign a veteran interior OL 5. Super Bowl Easy Peasy Wrong. I stupidly had come to think that Mikey boy had failed to pass the Douche Baggery gene on to the grandkids. WRONG. Give Henderson the $30-32M/yr. you're gonna end up giving him anyway, sign Stewart to a fair 17th pick slot deal and sign either Risner or Scherff as insurance at guard to protect - you know - the FUCKING FRACHISE! Tired of the bullshit dick-swinging games!

New Yoshi logo just dropped

Ja'Marr and Burton came to Knoxville, Tennessee for Tee's celebrity basketball game.

Ja'Marr's first ever Bengals TD is cinematic art 🎥 o0lX-hXBdycwNTF0.mp4

Well, he can enjoy a year off from football then. If he can’t trust himself to conduct himself like a professional I don’t want him. Went thru a decade of dumbass players making the Bengals look like shit. BTW, Abdul Carter, signed his contract, which includes the now-controversial (for a Bengals player that is) provision. I guess Carter has more faith in himself. The Burton fiasco last year was bad enough although these particular clauses would not have cost him money.

I thought the CBA covered the "conduct detrimental", refunds due for suspensions, off-field stuff? "Similar" language is not identical. It's possible the Bengals are still trying to do it their way instead of imitating everyone else. My hunch is the team's still in their feels over Ja'Marr/Tee & Trey. Suddenly they want to keep up with the rest of the league? Since when? And over this? Eating a first round bust is part of doing business in the NFL. If it happens too often, go hire better evaluators instead of trying to wring that money back out of the next first round pick and make better picks. If they won't do that but don't have the stomach for the risk they need to step away from the high-stakes table. Maybe sell it off to someone who doesn't need NFL matching funds to pay their bills. Owning a pro sports franchise is like end-game gambling, to be treated like a racehorse. It's the big-boy prestige item, "how we name royalty in this country" to paraphrase Billions. It's not the corner deli & no place for the cautious, safe, and timid. Honestly the Browns/Blackburns may own this team but they act more like they're only managing it. It's a line on a graph to them. Team culture, once again.

The people have spoken. Champions 🏆🐯

A few months ago he went 144 when he was supposed to be going 25.

So... Are they not lazy in covering the other 31 teams? https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2025/06/17/bengals-crushed-earned-reputation-contract-standoffs-hendrickson-shemar-stewart/84245705007/ Their history overshadows the fact that Hendrickson signed a short contract extension recently, is 30 years old, was granted permission to seek a trade and has walked back previous holdout threats. Cincinnati’s history also, ironically enough, overshadows the fact that attempting to revise contract leverage, starting with Stewart, is another attempt at modernizing, considering some reporting says the language they want to insert is pretty standard for other teams. The media has always been lazy. This golden age where these guys did leave their office chair is something from Nick at Nite. If that age did exist, you'd need to be in your 80's to remember it. A lazy media will always fall back to what Cincy's reputation is... And this is a team not 15 years removed from having their Franchise QB refuse to play for them for non-monetary reasons. You want fair media.... Bengalswire seems to get that we're victims of our reputation. Paul Dehner takes the team's side quite often because that's his source. Are you mad that ALL Bengals coverage isn't slanted the way you prefer? The Family are Billionaires in a VERY public enterprise. The fact that they can't manage their PR is not good. It's not a sign that they're more down to earth, or more "real". It's more of a sign that the NFL's worst FO doesn't "get it". Are the Bengals losing in the court of public opinion? Yes. Is that fair? I think so. Is the Judge who convicts you unfair when you show up without a lawyer and refuse to speak on your own behalf? Or do you say "What a lazy judge! He should have left his bench and gone and done an investigation! He can't expect me to hire a guy to give him my side of the story!" You've watched MacAfee... They read shit off the wire and then talk about it. That has been "Journalism" since the 80's when people read shit off the wire and talked about it. Now we just have a lot more sources than the AP. Frankly, you're a lil' dim if you think they're doing much else. You think 6 brohams sitting around are supposed to have Katie on Speed Dial? And what would she say if she did answer? How do you know they didn't call her? Adam Schefter is the "rumor" guy. His job is to report juicy rumors... Is it his job to NOT post what an agent tells him because Katie refuses to talk to him? Do you think he's refusing to talk to Katie? The Bengals have an earned reputation and have done nothing to change the narrative. The coverage they get is fair. Everything else is people whining because they're hearing things they don't like.

I never said that the media is lying. I am saying that they are not always telling both sides. That's dishonesty by omission. You're on crack if you don't think that the media piles on. There are plenty of teams with far less recent success than the bengals. Name one other team that the media constantly bashes like they do the bengals. Even the turds get more respect than we do. I think there's an agenda and you patronizing me and repeating the same thing over and over again isn't going to convince me otherwise. I never said anything about signing Trey one way or the other. But I don't think that it is a no brainer that they should give him whatever he wants. He's already under contract. There are considerations.

I would call that an organization-wide issue, despite all the excuses. Like the opener "oh we didn't know which WR to gameplan around." Yeah, that definitely sucked, but it didn't happen without reason. Decisions made at the very top of the franchise led them there. It's ok to say "we let that drag on too long, we'll learn from that mistake" but instead it seems like it's always some new form of prevarication. Do they really think they're crushing it on every level & just victims of bad luck? Does anyone?

@BlackJesus is really asking if Joe's jockstrap was left by the locker so he could steal it?

Brook's quads need to be added to Ja'Marr's calves to form a super human. 💪🏾

The clip ... YouCut_20250708_140834120.mp4

Feels like half measures to me. They had plenty of cap space to sign one of the top FA guards but went with a discount option and a couple of scratch-off tickets. Plus depth, as you said - very rare for all 5 OL to start every game. Quarter billion invested in the QB and the best they can do is Lucas Patrick? Seems like they're always trying to do the least where the interior OL is concerned.

This never gets old.

Cordell Vollson hasn't allowed a sack in five months.

"Look at me, I'm the league MVP now."

6ASOs6X2O03uFfFE.mp4

Chase is on the cover of all the fantasy football magazines and projected to go #1 in most drafts ...

The Athletic - What we learned from each team in offseason workouts. Cincinnati BengalsThe Bengals found exactly what they were looking for in second-round pick Demetrius Knight Jr. The linebacker was slotted into the starting spot alongside Logan Wilson immediately and brought stability despite this being his first time on an NFL practice field. He’s older (24) with more experience, which made his addition look and feel more like a free-agent signing than draft pick. Players view him as a future leader of the defense already and with all captains gone from last year’s group, defensive coordinator Al Golden is on the hunt for exactly that. — Paul Dehner Jr.

And the fact that the team had not used it previously is meaningless. It isn’t some off the wall unique contract, it’s a standard contract for many teams.

Good lord. You can't draft a guy at #17 and then go "But you suck so accept this crappy contract." WTF???

Meh, guy has even refused to sign an injury clause which all rookies sign. The idea that somehow the Bengals are not allowed to use the same language many teams use to protect themselves from knucklehead behavior is kind of laughable. Actual training camp hasn’t started so I am not worried yet. Never liked the pick anyways. He didn’t produce in college based on his draft slot, seems to be another underwear warrior like John Ross although Ross actually did produced in college.

Big boomer energy there Harry lol

So kind of her to let Joe sleep on her couch while he's in town shopping for a new pair of jeans since his old ones are all worn out and full of holes.

It's nice to have an all-time franchise QB that should be allowed in a room with kids. Not everyone can stay that. l Imagine paying for Xitter clout. So exclusive! It's like making a reservation at an Arby's.

Working backwards.. Lou is shouldering the blame for an awful lot. Some of it deserved, IDK, easy for the players and everyone else to pile on now that he's the official scapegoat. How he was using the roster is debatable. What's obvious to me is that the defensive roster was mismanaged from the top down. Geno Stone's comfort level won't make him Jessie Bates. Sheldon Rankins was a choice. Even without bird flu he's not DJ Reader. Midround rookies as the backups for both the new guy & Hill - that was another decision. The talent level has fallen off in general. Did Lou do all that? Was he blowing smoke up everyone's ass about his depth chart or did someone else at least sign off on these decisions? We know Tobin is teflon, worst that could happen to him is a happy retirement with much appreciation for his 30 year tenure & fond memories of when Joe & Ja'Marr dragged them all to a Super Bowl that one time. What does he do exactly other than cover for ownership? Reports of who precisely is responsible for what in Bengals HQ changes depending on which way the wind is blowing. Scapegoats abound. It seems a 403-479-5 franchise record is hunky-dory to them. They'll get 'em next time! That's where a team's culture comes from - not from a new slogan on this year's camp swag. As for Stewart.. He has a chance to be a good DE, eventually. Start him before he's ready and he may never get there. I don't think anyone really wants Ossai starting instead, but that's what they've got. We gonna blame Lou for that as well?

And the bengals were robbed that game on those calls and z Jeremy hills knee was down !

My understanding is that the default language being proposed in Stewart’s contract is used by much of the NFL. A prominent example is with Jameson Williams and Detroit, where his gambling suspension voided the guaranteed money in his rookie deal. He still wound up earning the same amount, but it was no longer guaranteed and they could have cut him and held on to the money. It’s not like this is controversial or shady as more than half the league has used similar language in their contracts. The issue to me is the approach the team has used to this point. They could have offered some type of incentive to Stewart in exchange for accepting the language since he’s the first Bengals player to be subject to it. That kind of basic compromise would be better than a stalemate ending with a pissed off player who’s missed all on-field work so far. Their hardball tactics are the main reason he didn’t sign the injury waiver and instead sat out.

Being petty with your first round pick and hopefully franchise cornerstone is not a wise choice either.

BEST WR DUO in the NFL

I agree even though their coach is the biggest cry baby in professional sports ever

We got this 🐯

whats the date, realistically, that any of this actually matters? First day of camp? First preseason game? First regular season game? Its tough to pretend it matters before camp. he was involved in everything except slapping some tackle dummies around so far.. so i cant force myself to be upset so far..