Cincinnati Bengals rookie Shemar Stewart is the last first-round pick to sign, and owner Mike Brown sounds tired of waiting. To his mind, it’s all much ado about nothing, and his comments yesterday reflect that. It is a message resonating throughout the building, executive director Duke Tobin also questioning Stewart’s logic.
As Micah Parsons also found out yesterday with Jerry Jones, Stewart found Brown impatient in getting what he wants. For Stewart, his issue is the Bengals making him their first first-round pick they ask to sign new language in his contract pertaining to voids of guarantees. While other teams might have similar language, it is now to Cincinnati, and it has offered no offsetting compensation.
“The issue seems to be about guaranteed money, if in the event, he acted in a way that was contrary to league rules, or our rules, for example, if he got into a criminal situation”, Mike Brown told Russ Heltman of Sports Illustrated about why the Bengals have not yet managed to sign Shemar Stewart.
“We’ve been here for a long time, it’s never happened, and that’s what’s holding up this contract, and from our vantage point, it’s a form of foolishness”, Brown adding, using language I’m sure Stewart took note of, adding, “It just ought to get done. There is no dispute over the money. It’s just a dispute in his mind that I guess, if he did something that really deserved punishment, that he would want the whole contract guaranteed”.
Owners, of course, have far fewer vulnerabilities, typically being millionaires, if not billionaires. Some, like Mike Brown, don’t mind speaking out of turn, anticipating they will land upon their preferred outcome anyway. That’s what he is counting on with Shemar Stewart, trusting he will eventually relent, all the same.
Meanwhile, Stewart has refused to participate, declining to sign a participation waiver, the language with which he and his representatives also took issue. At the moment, he is training at his alma mater, with no clear indication he will report to training camp. Unsigned, he is currently not a Bengals employee, so they can’t fine him.
“I don’t blame Shemar”, Tobin said when asked about Stewart’s approach. “He’s listening to the advice he’s paying for. I don’t understand the advice. We’re treating him fairly”.
Of course, people rarely believe they are ever treating somebody unfairly. Generally, people don’t want to be unfair, but that doesn’t mean they will recognize unfairness in their own behavior. For Shemar Stewart, he sees the Bengals as being unfair in asking him to sign something no first-round pick has had to sign before with the team, while getting back nothing in return.
But is he truly entrenched in his position, willing to skip practices until the Bengals relent in some way? They want Shemar Stewart on the field, especially with Trey Hendrickson also threatening to stay away. While there seem to be positive developments on that front, Stewart and the Bengals may be further apart.
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