Yesterday, 09:00 PM
(Yesterday, 05:33 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Per the CBA if he does not sign and sits out the Bengals have his rights until the draft next year. At that point he can enter the draft again and be drafted by any team but the Bengals. There is an exception to this though. If he were to sign a contract with a a team in another professional football league like the CFL, the Bengals would maintain his rights for 3 years.
While not likely in my opinion there is still the option to trade him. If he still has not signed the deadline to trade him is 30 days before the first game of the season. So they would have to do that by early August.
However, I think we will see them come to an agreement and he will be signed soon. Of course I was wrong at the begining of this thread with post #2 so don't trust me on predictions. :)
I trust your analysis, George. Your typically spot on in finding and enunciating the rules. But the ESPN report (link below), as written, gives another impression: "Under the current collective bargaining agreement between the NFL Players Association and the NFL, the team that drafted a player retains their rights through the following year's draft."
The wording of "through the following year's draft" gives the impression the Bengals would retain the rights through the draft. But, what you have stated makes a lot more sense.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/45777024/still-unsigned-bengals-rookie-shemar-stewart-report