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When it comes to the Shemar Stewart contract standoff with the Cincinnati Bengals, there are layers…to say the least.
Layers, like the many reported instances of Stewart and his camp being asked by the Bengals to accept being the first to reset their contractual language when it comes to voidance of guarantees.
As it turns out, there’s another layer: The possible reason Stewart didn’t sign standard injury waivers like other unsigned draft picks around the league and practice with his team is due to Cincinnati’s participation agreement.
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Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk compared the Bengals’ contractual language about participation agreements to that of one other team and came away unimpressed:
“In Stewart’s case, a participation agreement that would have more clearly promised to give him the financial package he would have gotten without the injury would have gotten him on the field for the offseason program — and it would have deferred the thornier issue of working out final contract language until training camp.”
Some of the very specific languages comes down to ambiguity and it is an incredibly small sample size. That said, on one hand, it’s easy to see why an agent could balk at the language. On the other, it hasn’t seemed to be a red flag for other Bengals rookies historically (provided it’s not also brand new).
Regardless of the reason, Stewart choosing not to participate while attending spring work when many rookies in similar positions did around the league was a risky roll of the dice given the developmental reps needed after entering the NFL perceived as a project.
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