Stewart is signed!

[wanga]

Well that was seamless.

[BoomerFan]

(Today, 02:08 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Right. So instead of sauabbling for months over 550k, they should have just given it to him earlier, gotten their language in, snd more importantly, had him in for as much preseason stuff as possible. This dude ain't exactly ready to start day 1, he needs work. 

Do we know for a fact they didn't offer that before? Didn't Shemar's agent say this wasn't about money?

I mean it is possible, knowing how the organization rolls that they were that petty. But it seems more likely they would've done that amount but Shemar either wanted far more or was telling them the language was all that mattered. 

Anyways, the best thing that Shemar can do now is get in their and play his heart out. That's how he really wins this situation and gets himself success (including bank and fame) down the road. 

[Millhouse]

Good, about flippin time. Hopefully this standoff helps pave the way for more efficient negotiations of future first rounders going forward.

Now it's time for Stewart to get to work to catch up, and hopefully proves the skeptics (like me) and haters (not me) otherwise. To be fair though, I'm skeptical of all rookies until I see them play on gamedays when it counts, regardless of their college ball, camps, preseason, etc.

[masonbengals fan]

(Yesterday, 08:55 PM)Joelist Wrote: So basically they moved up 500K of his signing bonus and paid up front. About as close to nothing as can be - basically they did it to let Stewart and Hiller save face.

Nailed it.

Glad this is over & looking forward to watching the kid play. We sorely need his contribution to a position of need. 

Now get Trey back in the fold. 

[FormerlyBengalRugby]

Glad Stewart is signed, but irked he was missing out on the opportunity for more reps and building chemistry with the rest of the d-line, especially with Trey being a no show.

We were all dumb at his age, so time to move on.

[PCB Bengal Fan]

(Yesterday, 09:22 PM)TKUHL Wrote: Anyone think the league will try to do something to move away from “guaranteed” contracts. It’s kinda getting out of hand.

They sure as hell don't want to be like MLB, the guaranteed contracts with no salary cap (along with steroids) made me stop watching 20 years ago.

[Sled21]

(Yesterday, 10:25 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Seemingly half the board just spent the last few weeks talking about how Stewart was probably already a criminal just hoping nobody found out and he'd lose his money for what he already did, how he was a cancer and they hoped he never played for us, how he was already a bust, and how "maybe he can go back to college another year and get a 5th sack".....

Now it suddenly hurts Trey? 

Nobody on this team is replacing 17.5 sacks. I don't see Stewart really making any difference in the Trey-sized hole in our defense.

It hurts Trey because now the team is missing 1 DE instead of 2. Not that hard to understand

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

Still, about dang time.

Now get Trey done. ASAP.

And sign a OG better than Cody Ford

[Soonerpeace]

(Yesterday, 08:55 PM)Joelist Wrote: So basically they moved up 500K of his signing bonus and paid up front. About as close to nothing as can be - basically they did it to let Stewart and Hiller save face.

(Yesterday, 09:16 PM)TKUHL Wrote: We are not the only team using this language. Other teams are using it this year. I don’t blame the owner of the team for that. It’s kinda petty that it came down to 500k upfront and the language stayed. What the hell have they been doing this whole time.

So many are conditioned on here to bury Ownership ( remember Hiller said it was above Tobin’s pay grade … what a tool ) that I think according to most legit sources the language remained. The Bengals gave up 500k now vs 5 more months? I don’t think that’s why it took so long. The agent was fighting over the language. He lost as Shemar said I have to be there for pads. That’s when he said give us more money now so they threw in 500k

(Yesterday, 10:20 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Yes, and those other teams were having improved bonus payouts compared to what the Bengals normally do.

The point was that if you want to make a player accept a negative change in their contract compared to what the previous guy (Mims) got, you need to give something in return. The Bengals were wanting concessions without giving up ANYTHING in return. Simply accepting one-sided demands isn't a negotiation, and is a terrible precedent to set.

I highly doubt that $500k was all they originally wanted, but again, it's called compromise.

But the Bengals weren’t the only team to implement the clause. There’s guidelines out the kazooo on these contracts. This was a young agent trying to make a name for himself and get Rapoport, Pelissero,and Schefter tweeting his name and getting interviews. Leap you are astute I know you see this.

[XsandOs]

(Yesterday, 08:12 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote:

To get Shemar Stewart on the field, both sides compromised.
— Stewart agreed to Cincy’s new language.
— The #Bengals moved $500K of Stewart’s signing bonus up and paid up front, rather than pay it December. https://t.co/bAysRfZMNX

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 25, 2025

That sounds fair. He accepted the default language and Bengals gave him more (EDIT) of his bonus upfront. 

Welcome Shemar!

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(9 hours ago)Soonerpeace Wrote: So many are conditioned on here to bury Ownership ( remember Hiller said it was above Tobin’s pay grade … what a tool ) that I think according to most legit sources the language remained. The Bengals gave up 500k now vs 5 more months? I don’t think that’s why it took so long. The agent was fighting over the language. He lost as Shemar said I have to be there for pads. That’s when he said give us more money now so they threw in 500k

But the Bengals weren’t the only team to implement the clause. There’s guidelines out the kazooo on these contracts. This was a young agent trying to make a name for himself and get Rapoport, Pelissero,and Schefter tweeting his name and getting interviews. Leap you are astute I know you see this.

You may indeed be right. 

The Bengals were one of the last teams to implement that language for first round picks. It is more the norm these days. 

I think the FO was on the right side here. The lion's share of the blame belongs to Stewart & his agent. And maybe $550k more upfront hadn't been enough to get them to sign before now. 

Or maybe it hadn't been offered until now. We'll never know. It just seems like such a small thing to prevent him from signing for so long. If that is all it took (big if), then it seems like it should have gotten done sooner.

[Soonerpeace]

(9 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: You may indeed be right. 

The Bengals were one of the last teams to implement that language for first round picks. It is more the norm these days. 

I think the FO was on the right side here. The lion's share of the blame belongs to Stewart & his agent. And maybe $550k more upfront hadn't been enough to get them to sign before now. 

Or maybe it hadn't been offered until now. We'll never know. It just seems like such a small thing to prevent him from signing for so long. If that is all it took (big if), then it seems like it should have gotten done sooner.

I’d expect the agent ( looking to save face) suggested the extra first installment bonus money to save face and make him look better in the agent and twitter universe and to his client. Some fans are saying good grief why didn’t you offer that before MB? Whereas more likely if Hiller settles for what was always on the table Shemur loses confidence in him. This way he comes back to Stewart and says it was not all for naught. With Trey’s situation I think and I mean your first draft choice at a position of need being ridiculously hardball doesn’t make sense even for Cincy. Except tge character clause that they have got to set precedent for next year and beyond. All the posters trying to put blame on Cincy I truly believe are misguided in this instance. I mean Hiller’s initial comments were they just wanted the language of Mims contract. That was their goal not 500k more.

[ERIC1]

(9 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: You may indeed be right. 

The Bengals were one of the last teams to implement that language for first round picks. It is more the norm these days. 

I think the FO was on the right side here. The lion's share of the blame belongs to Stewart & his agent. And maybe $550k more upfront hadn't been enough to get them to sign before now. 

Or maybe it hadn't been offered until now. We'll never know. It just seems like such a small thing to prevent him from signing for so long. If that is all it took (big if), then it seems like it should have gotten done sooner.

I think everyone has over reacted to these negotiations including those taking place with Hendrickson. This is not a Bengals thing, this has been going on with the entirety of football teams , their draft picks and good players for decades..A first round draft is a very big deal..Stewart has missed 2-3 real practices this summer, he now is in camp and everything will be fine.. Good players like Hendrickson, on most every NFL team  always are asking for more money and extensions ..sometimes it works out sometimes not. have a great afternoon...no golf today..we are once again taking our wives to the air conditioned  Pickle Lodge

[Luvnit2]

(Today, 01:04 AM)DYT_Bengal Wrote: A lot of people are complaining about the sack production but it looks like he play 'contained' (might have this wrong) on most passing plays while other dline stunted. Definitely was a playmaker in the run game though. Really excited to see what he and Myles Murphy can do playing next to each other.

It will be interesting to see if Bengals move him inside to DT on passing downs. I think he has a shot to add some versatility to our DL.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(10 hours ago)Sled21 Wrote: It hurts Trey because now the team is missing 1 DE instead of 2. Not that hard to understand

They can sign me to play DE today and it won't mean they are missing 0 DEs then.

Murphy has 3 career sacks in 2 years.
Ossai has 9.5 career sacks in 4 years.
Stewart has 0 in 0, but also 4.5 sacks in 3 years in college.

You can clone all three of them and add them to this team and you still haven't filled the giant hole that Trey not being here has made.

That'd be like saying Burton would put pressure on Chase because they are both WRs.

[Soonerpeace]

(8 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They can sign me to play DE today and it won't mean they are missing 0 DEs then.

Murphy has 3 career sacks in 2 years.
Ossai has 9.5 career sacks in 4 years.
Stewart has 0 in 0, but also 4.5 sacks in 3 years in college.

You can clone all three of them and add them to this team and you still haven't filled the giant hole that Trey not being here has made.

That'd be like saying Burton would put pressure on Chase because they are both WRs.

There’s no dodging those poor sack totals.

[tBengal]

Glad to see he signed, he had 4 sacks his college career so not expecting much out of him in terms of getting to the QB but hopefully he’ll be good against the run.

[Luvnit2]

(8 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They can sign me to play DE today and it won't mean they are missing 0 DEs then.

Murphy has 3 career sacks in 2 years.
Ossai has 9.5 career sacks in 4 years.
Stewart has 0 in 0, but also 4.5 sacks in 3 years in college.

You can clone all three of them and add them to this team and you still haven't filled the giant hole that Trey not being here has made.

That'd be like saying Burton would put pressure on Chase because they are both WRs.

No doubt, none of current DE's have proven ability to sack the QB. No doubt you don't just replace the sack leader and very likely hurt our sack totals. If Trey i snot here, simply whether one of a combination from the DL need to step up on passing downs. Our interior pass rush n 2024 was almost non existent, we need Jenkins and Hill to be much better creating pressure and sacks.

I mentioned Stewart may go inside on passing downs. Will he be able to get more push than our starting DT's? Maybe

The goal is to imorove pressures and sack totals from 2024. It will take a villiage if no Trey to accomplish it.

[kevin]

GREAT NEWS....He only missed a couple days of training camp.  Now get him out there and get him Coached Up.   He is a green rookie, and needs Coached Up.  Had he missed much of training camp, he would not be worth anything in 2025. However since he didn't miss much, he can be Coached Up and be a top rookie player in 2025.  The awful defense that Golden is trying to rebuild needed the Top Pick Defensive End greatly. ......GREAT NEWS.

Those who look at his sacks as low in college.  He was double teamed a lot in college.  He was one of the Top recruits out of high school in USA.  In college he still got a lot of pressure on QB's, even though he was often blocked by 2 or 3 players.  Stewart is a Beast and you can't double team somebody in NFL like in college, because that leaves an NFL player free to clobber you.   Bring on The Stew, Go Bengals.  Oh Yes, Golden liked in the draft that Stewart can play DE and DT and even some LB.  Golden says that will help Bengals not get caught in the wrong defense, and Golden liked that Stewart and some other draft picks can move around and adjust to play changes by opposing QB and coach. Versatility is a key word for Stewart, mostly a defensive end, but Golden says he can line him up at other positions in games, DE, DT or LB. Versatility was the key word for the round 2 pick for Golden, and Golden promises a whole new type of Bengals defense.  They won't be sitting in the 5 or 6 DB packages all game anymore. Golden says he will use 3 and maybe 4 LB's during games.  Golden is not going to sit back in The Prevent all game, so he made a point to draft players who are versatile in the Front 7 and can play D Line or LB and Bengals not get caught in the wrong defense by opposing QB. Under Golden Bengals will be more aggressive in the Front 7, not as passive in 5 or 6 DB's all game as Coach Taylor has liked. 

GO BENGALS

   

[Sled21]

(8 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They can sign me to play DE today and it won't mean they are missing 0 DEs then.

Murphy has 3 career sacks in 2 years.
Ossai has 9.5 career sacks in 4 years.
Stewart has 0 in 0, but also 4.5 sacks in 3 years in college.

You can clone all three of them and add them to this team and you still haven't filled the giant hole that Trey not being here has made.

That'd be like saying Burton would put pressure on Chase because they are both WRs.

Whatever dude, you just like to argue to argue. Yeah, they could sign you, you'd last all of one play. The situation with Stewart now under contract is not as desperate as it was with Stewart and Hendrickson not signed. You can argue that all you want, but you're wasting your time.