Finally.
It’s finally happening!
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Cincinnati Bengals and Shemar Stewart have reached an agreement on his rookie contract.
Schefty adds that the Bengals are giving Stewart a fully guaranteed deal. The former Texas A&M standout was the last first-round pick without a deal as training camps opened this week, but the holdout is finally over for this year’s 17th overall NFL Draft selection.
This means Stewart will soon be reporting to training camp and should end up only having missed about 3-5 days of action, depending on how much of a ramp-up the team wants him to go through before being fully integrated into practice.
Stewart had been holding out due to the proposed contract language the Bengals wanted that could void future guarantees if he were to be arrested or suspended.
NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero says that Stewart got “improved payout language” in the deal.
Now, Stewart will challenge for a starting defensive end spot across from what hopes to be Trey Hendrickson on the other end, who is in the midst of his own holdout. If that goes into the regular season, then Stewart has a great shot of starting in Week 1 vs. the Cleveland Browns.
Just in: Shemar Stewart and the Cincinnati Bengals reached agreement on a four-year, fully guaranteed $18.97 million contract that includes a $10.4 million signing bonus, per his agent Zac Hiller of LAA.
Every 2025 first-round pick now has a deal. pic.twitter.com/LU3vRJEl9v
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 25, 2025
The #Bengals and No. 17 overall pick Shemar Stewart have agreed to terms on his fully guaranteed four-year contract, per his agency LAA.
After a lengthy standoff over contract language, Stewart got improved payout language can now get on the field. pic.twitter.com/N0jB4Fy9Cn
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) July 25, 2025
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