Trey Hendrickson isn’t the only notable Cincinnati Bengals player missing from practices at the team’s mandatory minicamp. First-round pick and fellow pass rusher Shemar Stewart said on Tuesday that he will not practice until his contract situation is settled.
Stewart’s contractural holdup is due to the language in his deal. The Bengals are trying to set a new precedent with rookie contracts that allows them to void future guarantees, according to The Enquirer. Stewart is asking that his contract language mirrors the team’s last first-round picks.
“I have no idea,” a clearly frustrated Stewart told the media when asked about a possible timetable regarding his contract. “I really don’t know.”
While he isn’t practicing, Stewart is attending minicamp. He said he has been going to meetings and taking notes in addition to studying the playbook and working out on his own time. He admitted, though, that nothing replaces practicing.
“It’s very important,” he said. “You’ve got to get your body somewhat prepared to play football, especially me coming from college to the NFL. It’s a way more physical game, even though I played in the SEC, which is very physical, but nothing compares to actually playing in the NFL. I thought I’d be on the field by now, that’s what I thought.”
Stewart acknowledged that his decision to not practice wasn’t an easy one.
“Very bad,” Stewart said when asked how badly he wants to be on the practice field. “I’ve been doing this for most of my whole life, then all of a sudden it’s gone over something very simple to fix. It’s kind of disappointing.”
Stewart didn’t allow himself to express his true feelings regarding the Bengals’ and their stance on his contract. He did, however, say that he is fully within his right to not sign the contract that they have presented. Stewart made that point while alluding to Hendrickson’s holdout.
“We’ll all agree Trey would be right, right?” Stewart asked the media. “But technically, he’s still 1% percent wrong for being under contract. In my case, I’m 100% right, so it should be a no-brainer. In Trey’s case, I think it should be a no-brainer, too. He had 17.5 sacks [the last two years]. If I was the GM or if I was the owner, take all my money, but I guess they don’t offer it like that.”
Unfortunately for Stewart, the NFL operates under a salary cap, which makes things like re-signing Hendrickson difficult, especially with the Bengals already having two of the NFL’s highest-paid players in quarterback Joe Burrow, wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and another player (wideout Tee Higgins) also taking up significant cap space.
But Stewart’s situation goes beyond the salary cap. It’s more about the Bengals trying to protect themselves if a rookie isn’t available to them down the road via injury. The Bengals are within their right to protect themselves, just as Stewart is within his right to not sign a contract that he doesn’t want to sign.
While he made it clear that he’s unhappy with his current situation, Stewart didn’t further poison the well when he was asked if this experience has soured his outlook on the Bengals, who drafted him with the 17th overall pick despite his lack of gaudy statistics in college.
“I’m not going to say that,” he replied. “I’m still new year. We still have a long future ahead of us.”
Stewart is hoping that he is part of the Bengals’ longterm plans. He’s also not ruling out the possibility of practicing as early as Wednesday if he and the team can find common round on his contract.
“We’ve got what, 20 hours?” Stewart said while alluding to the start of the team’s second minicamp practice. “Let’s see what happens.”
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Author: Bryan DeArdo
June 10, 2025 | 4:00 pm
