The Cincinnati Bengals missed the playoffs last season despite finishing 9-8. Their offense can score against anyone with Joe Burrow throwing the ball to Tee Higgins, and JaMarr Chase. But it was their defense that has let them down. The hope was that rookie first-round pick Shemar Stewart would help with that weakness. However, he has to step onto the field to be able to do that.
Stewart is already off to a rough start with the Bengals organization. According to reports, Stewart already missed the entire rookie minicamp because of a contract dispute and will not practice with the team in OTAs as they get underway until his rookie deal situation is resolved.
The Bengals fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo and replaced him with Al Golden, who was the defensive coordinator with Notre Dame last season. Golden was their linebackers coach from 2020-21, so this is not his first rodeo with the Bengals organization.
To support Golden, the Bengals signed free agent defensive tackle TJ Slaton from the Packers and linebacker Oren Burks from the Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles. But Stewart was the biggest acquisition with the 17th overall pick in order to add more pass-rush help for defensive end Trey Hendrickson.
Shemar Stewart is giving the Bengals more headaches while they deal with another one
According to Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk, the issue is that the amount of training camp roster bonuses the Bengals were offering was lower than the 17th overall pick received in 2024 (Dallas Turner of the Minnesota Vikings). The roster bonus is a lump sum payment that has become a device for putting a sizable chunk of the player’s pay in his pockets if they are still with the team on a certain date (March 1 or June 1). The bonus counts against the salary cap for the upcoming season.
The news of Stewart's contract dispute coincides with the Bengals also dealing with All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson’s contract demands. Hendrickson is still under contract, but he has stated he refuses to play this season unless he gets a new deal, especially after outperforming his current deal.
The Bengals’ front office is now juggling two major issues on the same side of the ball. Despite his immense talent, Stewart was not productive at Texas A&M. He only had 1.5 sacks in 2024 and 5.5 in three years. With Stewart already missing out on the rookie minicamp and now possibly OTAs, he is already off on the wrong foot with Golden, who must install his system without their two top edge rushers almost the entire offseason.