Why is Shemar Stewart holding out? Explaining contract dispute with Bengals

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Why is Shemar Stewart holding out? Explaining contract dispute with Bengals
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The Cincinnati Bengals opened mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, June 10. First-round rookie Shemar Stewart is in attendance, but he did not get in on the action.
The Bengals have been unable to sign Stewart to his rookie contract, as the team and the 21-year-old are embroiled in a dispute over the deal.
Stewart made it clear during a Tuesday media availability that he is not happy with the lack of progress in the negotiations.
"I've been doing this for most of my whole life, and then all of a sudden it's gone over something very simple to fix," Stewart told reporters. "It's kind of disappointing."
Here's what to know about Stewart's holdout as it drags into the summer months.
Why is Shemar Stewart holding out?
Stewart is holding out because of a dispute over the language of his rookie contract.
According to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Bengals "are trying to change the language in the contract for their first-round pick that allows the team to void future guarantees."
Stewart has been adamant he deserves a deal that doesn't contain that language, as it wasn't included in the contracts of recent Cincinnati first-round picks Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims, both of whom were selected lower than Stewart (17th overall).
"I'm not asking for nothing y'all have never done before," Stewart told reporters Tuesday, referencing the Bengals. "But in y'all case, y'all just want to win arguments [more] than winning more games."
Stewart further explained he doesn't have a lot of recourse for the matter aside from holding out.
"I can't say what I really want to say," Stewart explained. "But it's 'their contract.' They can do what they want with it."
The 21-year-old is doing his best to stay ready for when the contract dispute is resolved.
"I still go to meetings. I still study my playbook," he said. "Taking down the right notes, and then whenever I get some free time, I go out to train."
Still, Stewart acknowledged nothing will be able to truly replace the practice reps on which he is missing out.
"I thought I'd be on the field by now."
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NFL rookie contract values
It's worth noting Stewart and the Bengals aren't hung up on the total value of the first-round pick's contract.
The NFL implemented a rookie wage scale in 2011 as part of a then-new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that ended the 2010 NFL lockout. The goal of the wage scale was to mitigate the rising costs of contracts awarded to high-drafted but unproven players while also ensuring that first-round draft picks receive fully guaranteed contracts.
Stewart was the 17th pick which gives him a slot value of $18,942,634, per Spotrac.com. Below is a full look at the cost of each first-round draft slot for 2025.