“I don’t want to pay somebody who hypothetically could be in jail for four years at this level of pay. Do I think any of that is going to happen? No. That is why I use the word foolishness.” Mike Brown’s candor hits harder than most owner soundbites, but it echoes the complicated, cutthroat reality of the NFL’s modern player-owner dynamic. Rarely do high-stakes negotiations serve up so many “what ifs” with the calendar just days from camp. Cincinnati finds itself in a league-wide spotlight, not for lack of cap space or drama, but for the specifics hidden in the fine print.

The focus of every Bengal fan, and frankly much of the football world, sits with Shemar Stewart, the club’s top pick who hasn’t seen the field, let alone put on stripes for a “live” rep. It’s not about slot value, or the zeros in his rookie deal. The friction? A hypothetical legal clause: if Stewart, say, finds himself with a conduct suspension or worse, would the Bengals be on the hook for his guaranteed cash? Stewart’s rep says only for the current year. Brown and Cincinnati brass want void options for future years too with language not typically found in standard first-round contracts.

And here’s the leak from both sides of the Black Box: Stewart, the edge rusher out of Texas A&M, is leveraging 2020s-style NIL earnings, unusual for a rookie pressed into the classic sign-or-play-hardball. The team wants precedent, Stewart wants parity, and the result is a stalemate stretching into camp. “I’m not asking for nothing you all have never done before, but in you all case, you all just want to win an argument instead of winning more games,” Stewart recently fired back. Brown, for his part, admits the scenario is “peculiar,” not about dollars, but principle “I don’t think that’s going to happen ever. That’s what’s holding it up. It’s never happened as long as I can remember”.

Layer in the bigger picture: Stewart is not just any holdout. His long presence at Texas A&M, including workouts and game prep, gives him leverage most rookies would kill for. The Bengals who are the champions of cap discipline and precedent are caught wrestling between innovation and sticking to the letter of their own internal labor law. Director of Personnel Duke Tobin put it plain: “He needs to be here. I would encourage him to be here.” But Tobin also concedes Shemar Stewart’s right to strong counsel, reflecting the sea change in agent-player-team relations in the current NFL. Still, as camp kicks off, the Bengals’ edge room is murkier than ever, infected by a contract cold war that could stretch toward August.

Shemar Stewart’s standoff & Hendrickson’s contract battle offer contrast, but not clarity

While the rookie wrangles with legalese, Trey Hendrickson’s contract drama plays out with urgency but, at least outwardly, with professional respect. “He’s under contract and we expect all our guys under contract to be here,” Tobin stated, echoing sentiments across Cincinnati’s front office. Yet Hendrickson led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons, the ultimate leverage play for an edge rusher with only one year left on a $15.8M deal.

Mike Brown hasn’t let fan anxiety build too high, saying, “I think it’ll get done,” but time ticks. Hendrickson skipped voluntary activities and insists he won’t line up Week 1 unless there’s a fresh deal. Brown described the negotiations as “not easy,” adding, “He pushes hard. He gets emotional. We never have an easy time [negotiating with him], but it always gets done.” Multiple offers have been made, with financial and term differences the sticking points. But as Brown points out, this is a “fine player” whose value inside the locker room and on the stat sheet is not up for debate.

Fans are left juggling the hope of seeing both Hendrickson and Stewart suiting up at the same time for a bookend pass rush with the potential to define a season. But the Bengals’ current posture with their stars, seasoned and untested, exposes the friction at the heart of NFL roster building in the CBA era: protecting franchise assets while refusing to relinquish negotiation leverage, all while trying to keep the eyes on the ultimate goal, winning football games.

Much will be said about precedent, guarantees, and hypotheticals. For now, the Bengals’ defensive front is held together by patience and pencil-sharpeners in the front office. For all the talk, the outcome of who actually runs out of the tunnel on opening Sunday remains the real story waiting to be written.