I did just come across that "Default" language may be the issue with the contract. Basically it's what people have been saying about getting out of the guaranteed money if a player doesn’t report or is unable to report due to non football related situations.
I guess the Eagles include this language in all contracts so it's not solely a Bengals issue. This is just the first rookie contract for a 1st rd player they've tried to implement this language. So I can definitely understand why Stewart wouldn't want to sign it. Does seem especially silly for the Bengals to stick to it at this point as it's not that expensive of a contract. Also Stewart appears to need all the reps he can get so it's not great either.

I wonder if the new NFL is becoming too expensive for the Brown Family. Penny Pinching on a rookie deal is certainly a new low for the franchise.

(06-11-2025, 06:36 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I think we may need to pump the breaks on Stewart then.

Ossai didn't choose to re-sign to serve as a backup or play in a limited role only. Not to mention Bengals aren't going to pay someone $8 mill to be a specialized role player either.


I fully expect Hendrickson to continue his 70% or more of defensive snaps like last year.
Ossai played 51% of the defensive snaps last year, and I expect him to be used at least that much this year, if not >60%.
My guess is it's primarily Hendrickson and Ossai getting the bulk of the reps and MM and SS serving in rotational/situational roles on limited snaps (300-400 snaps each).
They'll also find probably ~200-300 snaps ish for guys like Cam Sample and Ced Johnson.

We need to pump the breaks a bit with Stewart as with any rookie. Ossai will get the majority of the snaps as he should, especially pass 
rushing snaps. But Stewart should get a lot of early down snaps being our 1st round pick that is good at sealing the edge and as we all 
know teams also like to pass on early downs too so he could get quite a few sacks with his athleticism if he can just learn to wrap up the
Quarterback.

Expecting a lot of TFL in the run game for Shemar Stewart at the very least as a rookie. He will help, big time.

(06-11-2025, 10:06 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: I did just come across that "Default" language may be the issue with the contract. Basically it's what people have been saying about getting out of the guaranteed money if a player doesn’t report or is unable to report due to non football related situations.
I guess the Eagles include this language in all contracts so it's not solely a Bengals issue. This is just the first rookie contract for a 1st rd player they've tried to implement this language. So I can definitely understand why Stewart wouldn't want to sign it. Does seem especially silly for the Bengals to stick to it at this point as it's not that expensive of a contract. Also Stewart appears to need all the reps he can get so it's not great either.

Yeah, I don't like this move by the Bengals at all. I agree with Shemar, just wish he would of kept what he was thinking in his head.

My general stance whenever discussing a Bengals related contract situation is that the Bengals are cheap and wrong.

And that stance has served me very well.

Not paying Andrew Whitworth and then him continuing to be an all pro and SB champion (over us).
Not paying Jessie Bates, and then him continuing to be an all pro.
Multiple players saying they were hoping to play for the Bengals, only to be underbid like crazy (Joe Thuney, Kevin Zeitler)
Wasting a ton of time and money not signing Tee Higgins early.
Wasting a ton of time and money not signing Ja'Marr Chase early.
Wasting a ton of time and money not signing Trey Hendrickson early.

And now wasting a ton of time that he needs to be practicing to mess with Stewart's contract.

Do I wish it would change? Yes.
Do I think it will change? No, not for a while.
This team gets in their own way more than any franchise in American sports history.

(06-11-2025, 09:54 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: so we drafted him to sit the bench ?? where is that statement?  i guess Knight and  Fairchild was drafted to sit the bench too. come on man

I mean...look at most of the early round draft picks Bengals have made in the Taylor era...

Amarius Mims started only because of season-ending injury to Trent Brown. TB was the planned starter last year until he went down.
Jenkins was a rotational player.
Burton was basically useless and Jackson was a rotational player.

Year before that:
Murphy was a rotational player.
Battle only got 7 starts and under 50% of snaps, only becoming starter because Nick Scott was so terribad. Scott was the planned starting SS to begin the year.
Turner did get a lot of playing time but that was because Awuzie was recovering from injury and CTB got hurt. The planned starters were Awuzie and CTB outside with Hilton in the slot.

Year before that:
Dax Hill rode the bench for a year behind Bates, waiting for him to depart in FA.
Carter a minimal rotational player, playing only 38% of defensive snaps.
CTB started 9 games but again was mainly because of Awuzie injury. Planned starters that year were Awuzie and Apple outside with Hilton inside.

Year before that:
Chase - You obviously start a stud 5th overall pick.
Carman was a backup.
Ossai was a rotational player.

Year before that:
Burrow - Obviously going to start the 1st overall pick who was NFL ready.
Higgins - From what I recall, the planned starters that year were AJ Green, John Ross, and Boyd, but Ross went down in Game 2 with an injury and Higgins took over from there.
Wilson - Rotational LB his first year.

Year before that:
Jonah Williams was planned to start but started the season injured.
Sample was TE3 on the depth chart behind Eifert and Uzomah.
Pratt started the season as a rotational/backup behind Vigil and Preston Brown, filling in once Brown was waived midway through the season.

So yes, do I think Taylor is planning for all these draft picks this year to start? No.
I think he may hope they do sometime down the road, but he typically has not pushed them into starting duties as rookies unless an injury occurs.

(06-11-2025, 11:12 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: We need to pump the breaks a bit with Stewart as with any rookie. Ossai will get the majority of the snaps as he should, especially pass 
rushing snaps. But Stewart should get a lot of early down snaps being our 1st round pick that is good at sealing the edge and as we all 
know teams also like to pass on early downs too so he could get quite a few sacks with his athleticism if he can just learn to wrap up the
Quarterback.

Expecting a lot of TFL in the run game for Shemar Stewart at the very least as a rookie. He will help, big time.

Stewart had all of...12 across 37 games in college.
I'm sure I'm being unfairly harsh to some degree, but the dude just never had it click in college after 3 seasons.
He got close but no cigar often. There's just HOPE that that eventually turns into actual production in the NFL.

This reminds me of when we touted Carl Lawson because he had a lot of pressures but few sacks.
According to PFF, Lawson was 4th in the league in pressures in 2020 with 64 of them, but he only ended up having 5.5 sacks.
Turns out, Lawson has now played 7 seasons in the league (missed 2021 due to injury) and has never had more sacks than the 8.5 he had as a rookie and is now relegated to a rotational player.
I can see Stewart following a similar path where he may get close on plays often but it may not really amount to much because it really needed to be a true TFL or sack to be a game-impacting play.

(06-11-2025, 01:44 PM)jj22 Wrote: Well if you don't believe me believe Burrow who spoke on the importance of having his teammates there during the spring unlike last year..... Maybe it's just the messenger. Funny how you change the messenger and suddenly it all make sense when hearing it form someone else. 

QUICK HITS | Joe Burrow Takes Bengals Offense For A Star Trek Spin: 'I Think We're In A Spot That We Haven't Been Before.'

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the team...but theres a whole nother world out there and if you got outside of your bengals sandbox ...everyday...in almost every nfl city...with the press, players ,coaches and ownners...there is drama and critique...while i respect your enthusiasm for the team..I dont believe anything you may post because like the rest of us you are not included, have no knowledge or are privy to anything going on inside the organization...its all speculation on your part seasoned with personal avarice, likes and dislikes....trey may get a raise..he might not...stewart will be signed before summer camp...but i can assure you joe burrow will be on the field giving it 110 percent every game

(06-12-2025, 09:54 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Stewart had all of...12 across 37 games in college.
I'm sure I'm being unfairly harsh to some degree, but the dude just never had it click in college after 3 seasons.
He got close but no cigar often. There's just HOPE that that eventually turns into actual production in the NFL.

This reminds me of when we touted Carl Lawson because he had a lot of pressures but few sacks.
According to PFF, Lawson was 4th in the league in pressures in 2020 with 64 of them, but he only ended up having 5.5 sacks.
Turns out, Lawson has now played 7 seasons in the league (missed 2021 due to injury) and has never had more sacks than the 8.5 he had as a rookie and is now relegated to a rotational player.
I can see Stewart following a similar path where he may get close on plays often but it may not really amount to much because it really needed to be a true TFL or sack to be a game-impacting play.

This is a bit disingenuous as Lawson's career was shortened by injuries not lack of production.

(06-12-2025, 10:14 AM)Stewy Wrote: This is a bit disingenuous as Lawson's career was shortened by injuries not lack of production.

Kind of yes, kind of no.

He's had 5 seasons out of 7 with 5+ sacks. Each of those seasons, he played in 12+ games, 4 of the 5 he played 15+ games.
There were 2 seasons midway through cut short with injury and 2021 was entirely cut due to injury though, I'll give you that.
He still has not been a double-digit sack guy any season, regardless of reason.
I don't have confidence Stewart will either.
I think Stewart will more likely be in the 5-8 sack range once he hits his peak. And that's ok, especially if he really becomes a stud in run support. That will give him a long NFL career. I just don't know if that would necessarily be worthy of 17th overall, at least in my book.

Shemar has left camp!   LOL

https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1933150060659007644

(06-12-2025, 10:20 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Kind of yes, kind of no.

He's had 5 seasons out of 7 with 5+ sacks. Each of those seasons, he played in 12+ games, 4 of the 5 he played 15+ games.
There were 2 seasons midway through cut short with injury and 2021 was entirely cut due to injury though, I'll give you that.
He still has not been a double-digit sack guy any season, regardless of reason.
I don't have confidence Stewart will either.
I think Stewart will more likely be in the 5-8 sack range once he hits his peak. And that's ok, especially if he really becomes a stud in run support. That will give him a long NFL career. I just don't know if that would necessarily be worthy of 17th overall, at least in my book.

Would you say a reasonable (optimistic) outcome of Stewart's career being similar to Sam Hubbard's?

(06-12-2025, 10:28 AM)CJD Wrote: Would you say a reasonable (optimistic) outcome of Stewart's career being similar to Sam Hubbard's?

Yes, absolutely. I believe that Stewart was drafted specifically to fill the void (both roster spot and role in the defense) left behind after Hubbard's retirement.

The red flags, from Stewart, on this he is an athlete and not a football player.  He does not seem like he's chomping at the bit to get on the field.   Leaving camp was a huge mistake and he got some bad advice there.  It will only set him back further and reinforce the bust label.  

Look at Hunter.  He just wants to play football.  He looks like he's having a blast at practice.  Stewart's demeanor screams apathy.

(06-11-2025, 01:19 PM)Bengalitis Wrote: so he doesn't wanna practice? arent these mandatory practices?

Why would he risk practicing if he’s not signed?

Four 1st round picks to go: https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-draft-first-round-pick-signing-tracker

Does Shemar end up being the last one to sign?

(06-12-2025, 10:36 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Yes, absolutely. I believe that Stewart was drafted specifically to fill the void (both roster spot and role in the defense) left behind after Hubbard's retirement.

A Hubbard-esque career is what I'm hoping for, yea. It's just a shame they chose to spend a 1st round pick on a position/caliber of player there. The last time we drafted a Sam Hubbard, it only cost us a 3rd round pick.

I guess they're hoping his elite athleticism will make him Sam Hubbard Plus.

It’s so hard to back this FO - they pay the big stars on offense then cheap out on the defensive edge rushers.
I don’t agree with how Trey and his agents have handled a lot of this but at the end of the day just “over-pay” the guy and go for it while the SB window is still open. Same with trying to protect their $ with Stewart’s contract.
Any good will from the last 2 off-seasons of big re-signings is gone and their cheapness is shining through again.

Same old, same old for this franchise.

(06-12-2025, 10:28 AM)CJD Wrote: Would you say a reasonable (optimistic) outcome of Stewart's career being similar to Sam Hubbard's?

Probably yes, although Hubbard was more proven but lower ceiling coming out of college whereas Stewart is higher ceiling but less proven, so more risk-reward there.
Hubbard had 30 TFLs and 17.5 sacks in 40 games in college.
Stewart had 12 TFLs and 4.5 sacks in 37 games.

Hubbard has averaged 6.3 sacks and 9 TFLs per season across his career.
That's a solid DE in the NFL, but Hubbard was a 3rd rounder whereas Stewart 17th overall, so expectations should be higher than that for Stewart.

(06-11-2025, 10:06 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: I did just come across that "Default" language may be the issue with the contract. Basically it's what people have been saying about getting out of the guaranteed money if a player doesn’t report or is unable to report due to non football related situations.
I guess the Eagles include this language in all contracts so it's not solely a Bengals issue. This is just the first rookie contract for a 1st rd player they've tried to implement this language. So I can definitely understand why Stewart wouldn't want to sign it. Does seem especially silly for the Bengals to stick to it at this point as it's not that expensive of a contract. Also Stewart appears to need all the reps he can get so it's not great either.

As far as reps, they're not practicing in pads, right? I don't know how much just being out there going through the motions helps.