When Shemar Stewart was drafted on the first night in the 2025 NFL Draft, it looked like the Bengals made the right choice. They picked a freakishly insane athlete that could help any team.
Since then, a ridiculous holdout has forced Stewart to skip OTAs. It seems the Bengals organization and Stewart are stuck on the language of participation. Stewart's contract doesn't feel protected if he gets injured, compared to other NFL teams. With less than three weeks to go until training camp, this is a massive failure by the Bengals organization by allowing this to continue so close to camp.
Most of the NFL media has sided with Stewart on the contract issue. NBC Sports' Mike Florio is the latest one to blast the Bengals organization, and went as far as to say that this silliness has nothing to do with football, but it has everything to do with the Bengals executives abusing their power structure.
Stewart praised for not bowing down for Bengals' power structure
All of this nonsense started by the Bengals organization shouldn't have been an issue to begin with. The point is: go win football games. Don't get caught up by trying to make a statement to make your first-round pick look bad.
Florio adds that is also a petty power dynamic from the Bengals organization. The more power the front office has, the more they can rule over their players. They're doing a really great job taking advantage of their first-round pick, because at the end of the day, Stewart's going to have the last laugh, and the Bengals are going to be the laughingstock of the NFL.
"This isn't about money, this is about power, this is about stubbornness, this is about our way or the highway. "Mike Florio
Florio predicts that he doesn't think anything is going to happen until training camp, which is still a failure in itself from the Bengals. To Mike Brown and the Bengals executives, it's looks like a first-round rookie that's calling the shots, but to Stewart, it's a strong character trying to keep himself and his future teammates safe.