The standoff between No. 17 overall draft pick Shemar Stewart and the Cincinnati Bengals has come to an end. After holding out due to a contract dispute, the rookie defensive end has agreed to a fully guaranteed deal, his agent told multiple media outlets Friday.
The four-year, $18.97 million contract is fully guaranteed — a major victory for Stewart, who began the dispute over guaranteed money. That number also reportedly includes a $10.4 million signing bonus, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
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As part of the deal, the Bengals have reportedly changed a controversial clause that was the basis of Stewart’s standoff. The clause would have allowed Cincinnati to void Stewart’s guaranteed money if he engaged in “detrimental” conduct.
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The clause was not dropped entirely, per multiple media reports, but was softened enough that Stewart agreed. In exchange, the Bengals reportedly will pay $500,000 of Stewart’s signing bonus up front, instead of in December, as part of the compromise.
That takes care of one contract holdout for the Bengals while another still remains in veteran pass rusher Trey Hendrickson. He has yet to report to training camp as he looks for an extension that could make him one of the highest-paid players at his position.
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Stewart, on the other hand, left Cincinnati’s mandatory minicamp in June, and did not report to the first days of training camp while negotiating the deal. The team was experimenting with the clause this season by putting it into all of the incoming rookies’ contracts. Only Stewart, Cincinnati’s first-round pick, pushed back on it.
Bengals owner Mike Brown was less than complimentary about the situation earlier this week, admonishing Stewart for his “foolishness” in the standoff. Brown also explained his logic for the deal, framing it as practical.
“If we get a player who gets involved in something like that, or does something that is just unacceptable, guess what? I don’t wanna pay ’em. I really don’t. If he’s sitting in jail, I don’t think I oughta be paying him,” Brown said Monday.
Bengals director of player personel Duke Tobin also spoke about the issue Monday, pointing blame toward Stewart’s agents.
“I think Shemar needs to be here,” Tobin said. “I’m not going to blame Shemar. He is listening to the advice he is paying for. I don’t understand or believe or agree with the advice but I’m not the one paying for it.”
Stewart’s Bengals teammates also wanted things to resolve sooner rather than later.
“From what I heard and what I’ve seen, he wants to be here, he wants to play — so I feel bad for him that it’s not working out,” fellow edge rusher Joseph Ossai told Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein this week. “That rookie training camp is important. It helps you grow. It helps you knock out a lot of the rookie mistakes, so to speak.
“I pray they can get it figured out.”
Now that it has, Stewart is likely to join Cincinnati’s training camp as soon as possible. Even with the standoff, the rookie DE continued to train on his own at the training facilities at his alma mater, Texas A&M.