After a lot of drama, the Bengals have finally signed DE Shemar Stewart to his rookie deal.
According to Adam Schefter, it is a fully guaranteed $18.97M deal over 4 years. As with all 1st round picks, it comes with a 5th year option.
The holdup in the deal was that the team wanted a clause that would void guarantees in the event of a personal conduct violation. While largely standard across the league, the Bengals had not done this before, and Stewart did not want to set the precedent.
However, after three training camp practices concluded, the two sides were able to come to an agreement. The Bengals got the clause that they were looking for. Stewart, instead, is getting a larger portion paid out at an earlier date.
With this deal, it means that the Bengals have their entire rookie class under contract. Demetrius Knight’s deal also took quite a while to get done, but was also announced recently. Now, the main focus will be sorting things out with Trey Hendrickson.
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