“I think for all the rookies, you’d like them to be out on the field. But certainly, there’s things that happen over the course of an NFL career, and this is one of them right now.” For Bengals HC Zac Taylor, navigating an offseason full of contract holdouts, there’s a whole host of headaches. And so far, he seems to be managing them with the utmost patience of a chess grandmaster. But for the rookie Shemar Stewart, signing a deal he wants with the franchise feels like a herculean task. With the franchise seemingly setting up Stewart for failure, things don’t look too good for Cincinnati.

Looking at the situation with the Bengals, Adam Schefter called it like he saw it. “Well, this is not what you want this time of the year when you have situations like this… That’s not ideal going into the offseason. You want peace and quiet. You want non-distraction.” The not-so-ideal back-and-forth continues not just with Stewart, but also the veteran Trey Hendrickson. While the contract talks seem to have resumed for Hendrickson, Stewart is still facing the impending preseason without a dotted line to sign on. The reason? Opportunity. More specifically, the lack of it.

Bleacher Report’s Kristopher Knox recently put together a list of every franchise’s “biggest bust” in the coming season. Shemar Stewart finds his name on that list, with Knox pointing at Bengals for the blame. As Knox writes, “Cincinnati desperately needed to add defensive help this offseason and took a chance on Stewart with the 17th overall pick in April’s draft. However, the Texas A&M product was always viewed as a raw and potentially risky player.” Even Matt Holder noted that Stewart is a “project” in progress. While he has the skills to ball out, he needs to improve his pass-rush abilities to be an effective piece for the Bengals. But only the training camp is left for the Bengals before the preseason sneaks up on Joe Burrow’s team. If a deal isn’t done by then, Stewart will probably miss the camp, and the chance to develop along with it.

Even Knox doubled down on the need for a “strong offseason” for Stewart to develop. But as Bengals insiders believe, there’s no end in sight for the contract dilemma. So, what’s next for the rookie DE? Zac Taylor has been focusing on the players actively participating. He’s even had private talks with Stewart about the whole thing. But with no reps and no contract, the Bengals seem to only be making things worse for their rookie.

Contract holdout continues for Shemar Stewart

With both Shemar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson holding out from practice, the defense looks extremely bleak for the Bengals. For Stewart, the reason for his holdout is simple. The Bengals have been pushing to get rid of the guarantees in his contract, and Stewart wants the status-quo. Stewart’s demand is to keep the terms same as Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims – former first-rounders with guaranteed contracts. Stewart even shared a powerful message to the front office last month as he notably said, “I’m not asking for nothing y’all has never done before. But in y’all case, y’all just want to win arguments that winning more games.”

HC Zac Taylor took notice of this comment and noted that the team does its best to “educate” the rookies on what they’re all about. As Taylor explained, “Number one, we want to protect our team, our locker room. And so, there’s some things I understand when there’s frustration there, but that’s how he chose to do it, and that’s his prerogative, and we look forward to getting him back in the fold.” Stewart’s frustration has passed through the locker room as well. Many have shared their support and hope that the whole thing blows over before the training camps. But if he doesn’t put ink to paper by then, Taylor may just have to go forward without Stewart in the roster.

For Stewart, it’s not the end of his NFL career – even before it begins. Rumor mills have even linked him as a trade prospect with the Bears at one point. No reps and no improvements this offseason. Even if a trade comes through, Stewart will face difficulties with his chances of playing slipping away. Will the team finally offer Stewart a contract before training camp, or will he have to find a new home on his own? For now, the drama continues.