Shemar Stewart might blow up the entire NFL draft

Shemar Stewart might blow up the entire NFL draft
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The Cincinnati Bengals’ first-round pick is reportedly weighing his return to the college level.

On the Cover 3 Podcast, CBS Sports’ Bud Elliot reported that 2025 first-round pick Shemar Stewart has been participating in team workouts with his former college program, the Texas A&M Aggies. According to Elliot, Stewart believes there’s a path for him to return to the college level even after being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals.

Stewart, notably, is holding out in Cincinnati over default language that the Bengals want him to sign, which would void all the guarantees in his contract if he ever ran into a legal matter. It’s also worth noting here that the Bengals are known for playing hardball with their players, most recently with pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, who is essentially renegotiating his contract on a year-to-year basis because Cincinnati won’t tear up his deal and give him a new multi-year extension.

The Bengals did not ask for this default language in Amarius Mims’ contract last year, their 2024 first-round pick. Stewart was also picked earlier in April’s draft than Mims was last season.

This default language could be a reaction to the season that their third-round pick, Jermaine Burton, had in 2024. Burton, who once slapped a woman on the field after Alabama’s loss at Tennessee, was seen gambling in a casino while on a road trip against the Las Vegas Raiders — a game where he missed the Saturday walkthrough, was evicted from apartments twice in two months and was involved in a domestic dispute, according to a police report filed in January.

It’s not rare for teams to use this default language in the NFL, but rookie contract players often only have one year of guarantees voided, the year in which an incident occurred, rather than all of the guarantees in the entire contract. Deals that include this void language also usually come with a more substantial signing bonus, money on the front end, which is reportedly not something the Bengals have budged on.

In Stewart’s case, I’m sure he’s asking a couple of questions:

  • “What does Burton’s situation have to do with me, a player without a legal history?”
  • “Why is the Bengals’ push for default language starting with me?”
  • “If I let the Bengals win here, will I have to deal with their hardballing for the next decade?”

On paper, it’s the perfect storm for a first-round pick to test his case at retaining his college eligibility, despite having already signed with an NFL agent. Whether or not he’ll be able to win his case is unknown, but the NCAA has been taking many losses in court over the last decade — including a recent ruling that seasons spent in junior college do not count against a player’s NCAA eligibility, as the NCAA does not oversee the sport at that level.

There’s plenty of money in college football, and it’s finally being shared with the players, so going back might not be as rash...