1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

I don't want to pay that kind of money for a car that is going to break down before it's even paid for. But when I ask the guys down at the dealership to give me a 5 year comprehensive warranty, they want more money! How is that fair? They're like "Nope, the whole thing could catch fire and explode." Why should I pay for a car that's going to explode? Not that I think it'll happen.

The whole thing is foolish and could have been resolved before minicamp. If the Bengals insist on a change of language, they should give Stewart something he wants. Faster payout of his signing bonus or whatever. It's not brain surgery.

Another good breakdown from Charlie Goldsmith:

2 hours ago, BlackJesus said:

But.... Just to be clear... This language has not been in their contracts in previous years?? So, up until 2025, they WERE willing to pay a guy if he wound up in prison? Is that the case that Mike Brown is making here?

So, why the new language this year? You're drafting guys from "The Longest Yard"?

Also, in the event of an arrest that led to prison time, the commissioner would most likely suspend the player... Which would null any salary guarantees.

"If a player is suspended, the team does get a rebate – in cash and Cap – in the amount of the total of the game checks lost by the player during the suspension."

The CBA also allows teams to recoup money, even bonus money, if the player commits a "forfeitable breach" by being unavailable to play for the team due to retirement, holdout, suspension, or incarceration.

What Mike Brown and The Bengals are asking for is to be able to void the entire contract. Not just the days you were suspended or in prison. Get a speeding ticket? You just lost $16M. Because that is contrary to league rules. And reporting does say the language is unclear as to what constitutes a breach.

I would posit the answer here is to not draft guys you think are going to wind up in prison. Stop proposing to sluts, and you don't have to negotiate the "herpes" clause in your pre-nup.

2 hours ago, dex said:

Yep, I mentioned this awhile back but didn’t have the clip, so thanks for posting it.

IIRC Stewart either left the Combine early, or left the Sr. Bowl… forget which. Given McShay mentioned issues with Jim Nagy (former Sr Bowl director), it was probably the latter.

57 minutes ago, dex said:

Another good breakdown from Charlie Goldsmith:

They went into the draft with a position of need and made a bad choice. If you hate the pick, chalk it up to another side effect of not being willing to pay Hendrickson.

They did the same thing last year when they picked Burton.

If he was a bad pick the solution isn't to just not sign him. That's just nuts.

The problem is the agent? Gee, the Bengals didn't do their homework. That NEVER happens.

Sure, maybe Stewart is getting bad advice from his agent... Drafting a guy and then not getting him signed is bad for the Front Office, period. Taking a guy who sucks and not being able to get him signed is twice as dumb. I don't think the "Shemar Stewart is an idiot who can't play football" take is as strong an absolution of the Bengals FO as people think it is.

My personal preference was to pay Trey so we didn't have to draft Myles Murphy 2.0... But hindsight is 20/20. At this point we can only wonder if this is yet another missed first round pick.

24 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

So, why the new language this year? You're drafting guys from "The Longest Yard"?

1968 Cincinnati Bengals

Jess Phillips

"However, during Phillip's senior season at Michigan State he forged a check and was sentenced to 18 months for four years at the penitentiary at Jackson, Michigan. He was paroled after four months; he credits his time in prison with teaching a lot about life, but he gave up hope of being drafted into pro football.

But the expansion Cincinnati Bengals and coach Paul Brown were willing to take a chance on Phillips. He was drafted as a defensive back in the fourth round (84th overall) of the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft by the then-AFL Bengals.

He was released from prison on August 2, 1968, and was met by Paul Brown's son, Mike Brown, who took Phillips directly to the Bengals training camp in Wilmington, Ohio, where he was installed as a defensive back. Paul Brown called Phillips "a kid with an engaging personality who has it all in front of him."

Paul Brown negotiated and had him sign the contract while in prison... as in PB went to the prison to get it done.

44 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

They went into the draft with a position of need and made a bad choice. If you hate the pick, chalk it up to another side effect of not being willing to pay Hendrickson.

They did the same thing last year when they picked Burton.

If he was a bad pick the solution isn't to just not sign him. That's just nuts.

The problem is the agent? Gee, the Bengals didn't do their homework. That NEVER happens.

Sure, maybe Stewart is getting bad advice from his agent... Drafting a guy and then not getting him signed is bad for the Front Office, period. Taking a guy who sucks and not being able to get him signed is twice as dumb. I don't think the "Shemar Stewart is an idiot who can't play football" take is as strong an absolution of the Bengals FO as people think it is.

My personal preference was to pay Trey so we didn't have to draft Myles Murphy 2.0... But hindsight is 20/20. At this point we can only wonder if this is yet another missed first round pick.

Not paying Trey isnt why they drafted Stewart, they needed to improve their pass rush period. Its even worse when Trey is not on the field sure, but its still needed improvement when he is.

This to me reeks of them trying to cover their ass on a traits player in case he busts.

Thats them not wanting to pay for a scouting deparment.

3 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

Not paying Trey isnt why they drafted Stewart, they needed to improve their pass rush period. Its even worse when Trey is not on the field sure, but its still needed improvement when he is.

This to me reeks of them trying to cover their ass on a traits player in case he busts.

Thats them not wanting to pay for a scouting deparment.

That's not at all what this is. They are not trying to put in a "you suck" clause in the case he doesn't play well. They would never get that type of language approved anyways.

Outside of not realizing that they would have an issue with his agent, it has nothing to do with their scouting department (would the scouts even be involved with assessing the choice of agents for contract representation - probably not). The only negative for Stewart as a draft prospect is his lack of stat sheet production. As you said, he is a "traits" player and those physical traits are outstanding. They felt the "traits" were worth the 1st round pick with the assumption that the lack of production was due to how he was used in college.

It definitely appears as if they were going to try and insert this language into the contract negotiations no matter who they chose as the 1st round pick. It has nothing to do with Shemar Stewart the person.

It is "traits" with Stewart in terms of pass rush, which admittedly is the most important task for a player who's primarily a DE. He is already an excellent run defender, which Hendrickson has never been. I don't think there's a chance of Stewart being a complete bust, it's just how much of his upside does he reach. I think Stewart's floor is a Sam Hubbard type, a top run defender with the versatility to slide inside on passing downs to push the pocket some. The Bengals are obviously hoping that Stewart goes well beyond his floor though.

So much for Go’s theory about Mike Brown no longer being involved.

To repeat, default language is used by the majority of the NFL. Trying to jam it through was the mistake. Should have offered something in return, like an accelerated bonus payment. Stewart potentially being a bust has nothing to do with it. It’s new language that should have been negotiated.

This has gotten absurd sign the contract and play football his agent is obviously a turd

1 hour ago, Inigo Montoya said:

It’s new language that should have been negotiated.

Honest question... Have you seen anything, anywhere suggesting that his agent is even willing to negotiate a new contract with the new language in place.

Lots of people have speculated that they should have offered this, that or something else to entice them but it also sounds like the agent is just dead set against any agreement with the language that the team wants.

At this point, it doesn't look like either side can bend at all to reach some sort of compromise. The team can't drop the language without giving up on it forever because this situation will always be thrown in their face by and agent. The agent can't give in and allow the language into the contract without looking like a fool to any future players because of the hardline against it that was taken. Not sure how this one is going to get resolved but someone needs to eat a turd sandwich and smile about it.

2 hours ago, Inigo Montoya said:

So much for Go’s theory about Mike Brown no longer being involved.

To repeat, default language is used by the majority of the NFL. Trying to jam it through was the mistake. Should have offered something in return, like an accelerated bonus payment. Stewart potentially being a bust has nothing to do with it. It’s new language that should have been negotiated.

He's very involved when they're doing well! 😏

1 hour ago, BBR said:

Honest question... Have you seen anything, anywhere suggesting that his agent is even willing to negotiate a new contract with the new language in place.

Lots of people have speculated that they should have offered this, that or something else to entice them but it also sounds like the agent is just dead set against any agreement with the language that the team wants.

At this point, it doesn't look like either side can bend at all to reach some sort of compromise. The team can't drop the language without giving up on it forever because this situation will always be thrown in their face by and agent. The agent can't give in and allow the language into the contract without looking like a fool to any future players because of the hardline against it that was taken. Not sure how this one is going to get resolved but someone needs to eat a turd sandwich and smile about it.

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2025/6/24/24454460/shemar-stewart-agent-contract-negotiations-holdout-cincinnati-bengals

This was from about a month ago.

4 hours ago, New Jersey Bengal said:

This has gotten absurd sign the contract and play football his agent is obviously a turd

Get a new agent And a deal will be signed in a day!