Is it time for these guys to end their contract holdouts???

AtoZ Sports

Kyle Crabbs analyzes Shemar Stewart's holdout with the Cincinnati Bengals as well as nearly every second round pick across the NFL and determines why they haven't signed their rookie deals yet.

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00:00First round draft choice Shamar Stewart and nearly the entire second round of the 2025 NFL

00:05Draft have yet to sign their rookie contracts and I'm begging someone to please use some common sense.

00:14I'm Kyle Krabs with A to Z Sports and Shamar Stewart had some choice words for the Bengals

00:19yesterday as he spoke with the media during mandatory minicamp still angling to get his

00:25rookie contract sign. Stewart suggested that the Bengals are more focused on winning arguments

00:30than winning football games tying his situation into that of star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson

00:35who is going through a well-documented contract standoff with the Bengals as well. For Stewart

00:41himself this should not be difficult whatsoever. There's a rookie wage scale which establishes

00:47the further down in the pick queue you get the total value of your contract is pre-established

00:53so there's no issue with the value of the contract between the Bengals and Stewart but the Bengals

00:57are trying to pull a fast one and create a new precedent with contracts that allows them to void

01:04future guarantees. Stewart is simply asking for the same terms of his first round contract as every

01:11other first round pick that's been given in their contract as far as a fully guaranteed first round

01:18contract. That should not be a difficult ask and if Cincinnati doesn't want to play by those rules

01:24don't pick in the first round would be by advice for Cincinnati. As far as the second round guaranteed

01:30money is again in the spotlight here and this one gets interesting. The first second round draft choice

01:37to sign from this year's class was the 34th overall pick Houston Texans wide receiver Jaden Higgins. He got a

01:45for the first time ever fully guaranteed second round contract for a rookie. The only other pick that has signed

01:53is Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Swessinger who was the only pick sandwiched between Higgins at 34 and the

02:00end of the first round at pick 32. Every other contract is still waiting to hope to get a fully guaranteed

02:09second round contract as well and their argument is well the Texans for the first time ever gave a fully

02:15guaranteed second round contract to their client. Why should we not aspire to get the same from you

02:22for hours and it makes some sense but at the same time Higgins is a unique situation because the Texans

02:29made him their first draft choice of the class after moving out of the first round as a part of the trade with

02:37the New York Giants who jumped up to get quarterback Jackson Dart. So the Texans can say and put their

02:43head down on the pillow and sleep well at night knowing this was our first pick of the draft class

02:48and he picked it pick 34. It's essentially a late first round pick. We gave him the fully guaranteed

02:53contract. There's just no fifth year option to tag on as a result but picks 35 through 64 are going to be

03:02waiting probably for quite some time if they're hoping that the team is going to willfully give

03:07out a fully guaranteed second round contract. I would imagine come training camp the rubber is going

03:12to meet the road and agents are going to bend here but I would not be surprised to see this trend

03:18continue to evolve and if teams continue to trade out of the first round and if they go deeper past

03:26pick 34 in future years this will be the precedent that those agents with their clients point to to

03:32say this was the first pick in your draft class he should have a fully guaranteed contract as well

03:37and as that process plays itself out over future years I would not be surprised to eventually see

03:44all second round draft choices be given fully guaranteed contracts but for the time being this has never been

03:51done before and Houston had unique circumstances in which they got their deal done with Jaden Higgins

03:57so instead of waiting for a new precedent to be born overnight these agents and players as long as it's

04:03not interrupting the play on the field and the availability for the early portions of rookie seasons

04:08play your game that's fine but when it comes time to strap it up make sure your deal is done and don't

04:14try to overhaul the NFL's willingness to give out second round guaranteed contracts overnight.

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