1:04pm: Knight’s signing bonus includes the same upfront payout percentage as past Bengals second-rounders, according to Conway, indicating that the team was holding out on his payment schedule in addition to the disputed default/void language.
Stewart appears to be fighting the same terms from Cincinnati, but it is unclear if he would be willing to make the same deal as Knight.
11:04am: The Bengals have reached an agreement with second-round pick Demetrius Knight on a four-year rookie contract, according to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz.
The deal comes on the day that the team’s rookies are due to report to Cincinnati for training camp. Knight is expected to compete with fourth-round rookie Barrett Carter and veteran Oren Burks for the right to start at linebacker alongside Logan Wilson.
Almost 80% of Knight’s deal is fully guaranteed, and he is also the first No. 49 pick in league history to receive guaranteed salary in Year 4. For context, Kris Jenkins, the No. 49 pick in 2024 (coincidentally, also by the Bengals), had less than 70% of his rookie contract fully guaranteed, per Spotrac.
Every member of Cincinnati’s 2025 draft class is now under contract except for first-round pick Shemar Stewart, who did not participate in spring practices and remains a holdout over default and void language in his contract.
Knight was opposed to the same default and void language as Stewart, but accepted it in his final contract in exchange for receiving 75% of his signing bonus at signing, according to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Despite the name, signing bonuses do not automatically pay out in full when a player puts pen to paper. Instead, payment schedules are a term to be negotiated along with the rest of the contract. Rather than remove or change the language Knight objected to, the Bengals simply offered him an improvement elsewhere in the deal (which they could have done all along).
The team has not made same offer to Stewart, per Conway, but since it resolved the impasse with Knight, it is probably worth a try. As of now, however, the Bengals’ negotiations with Stewart have made “no progress,” according to Schultz, and the former Texas A&M standout remains the only first-rounder leaguewide who has yet to sign his rookie deal.
Here’s a look at the rest of the Bengals’ 2025 draft class:
- Round 1, No. 17: Shemar Stewart (DE, Texas A&M)
- Round 2, No. 49: Demetrius Knight (LB, South Carolina) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 81: Dylan Fairchild (G, Georgia) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 119: Barrett Carter (LB, Clemson) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 153: Jalen Rivers (T, Miami) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 193: Tahj Brooks (RB, Texas Tech) (signed)