The Cincinnati Bengals won’t trade first-round pick Shemar Stewart despite the strange contract standoff, reportedly due to the team attempting to make him the first to accept the revised precedent around how it does contracts.
That big disclaimer out of the way, the idea the Bengals might throw up their hands and trade Stewart is starting to make the rounds (it’s mid-June with no news to speak of, after all).
Bleacher Report’s Mitchell Milani just suggested trade packages. And one doesn’t have to look long to find many more.
Again, not happening.
As we’ve already documented, the “nuclear” option for Stewart is to completely skip this year and enter the 2026 draft, which would mean the Bengals get zero back for the loss and can’t draft him again. But if he tried to play in college again or another professional league, the Bengals would keep his rights, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby.
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As Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio already pointed out, teams can technically trade unsigned draft picks up until 30 days before the first game of the season.
But again, if Stewart would likely fall undrafted or to the late rounds a year from now after all this drama, why would a team trade for him right now? And why would the Bengals entertain the idea?
Make no mistake, Cincinnati’s standoff with Stewart is public and ugly. The team’s past reputation in the media isn’t doing any favors, either. But he’s been present for most of the activities and taking mental reps with his teammates.
Yes, Stewart is a project who needs every live rep possible. But the early summer stuff has already been missed. It’s done. The Bengals aren’t going to turn around and trade him for undoubtedly a lesser return than what they paid to draft him because of a staring contest over a little language in his contract.
And Stewart’s not going to want to go to another team that, depending on who to believe in the reporting, already uses this language he’s not happy about in the first place.
So, Bengals fans will need to smile and grit through it. There’s an endless wave of content about a Stewart trade inbound, but it’s the same thing as Trey Hendrickson trade content…also not happening.
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