Shemar Stewart's Agent Made Some BOLD Comments That Aren't Helping The Situation...

AtoZ Sports

Stewart's agent had some statements about the situation in a recent interview. It appears that both sides hold differing opinions.

Transcript

00:00Shamar Stewart's agent made some bold comments about his client's ongoing contract to dispute

00:04with the Bengals and in this video I'll explain where he hit the nail on the head and where he

00:07completely missed the mark. Hi again Bengals fans John Sheeran of A to Z Sports Cincinnati here and

00:16man is it hot outside that's why I'm wearing gray and white but what I can tell you is not heating

00:20up or at least I bet is not heating up are the negotiations between the Bengals and Shamar

00:25Stewart. Now I know this situation has already grown tiresome basically with the entire fan base

00:29right there's two sides to this there is the side that thinks the Bengals are continuing their cheap

00:35and frugal ways and not making sure that the best possible version of the team is going to be

00:39readying on the field for week one and there is the side that thinks that Stewart is entitled and he's

00:44not focusing on the right things he's not preparing himself the best way possible to contribute as a

00:48rookie. All in all it's a frustrating story that I think upsets both sides here and I really don't

00:52think it has to be more complicated than that especially since every single time we get an

00:56update about this we're learning something new and then negotiations like this are typically kept

01:01under wraps because there are a lot of things that we just don't know and are privy to. But I did want

01:06to address the comments made by Shamar Stewart's agent Zach Hiller. Hiller of course is one of the

01:10main reasons why all of this is happening in the first place. He's in charge of his contract reading

01:15over the details of the contract and he's trying to put Stewart's best interest in front of everything.

01:19Now I'm sure there are some watching this who may have a different opinion on that but that is in

01:23his job description. Hiller recently made an appearance on Sirius XM radio and made two specific

01:28comments that I think really encapsulate the anger and the frustration from both sides here. And shout

01:32out to Bengals beat writer Mike Petraglia for transcribing parts of this interview via his

01:36Twitter account. Hiller first explained and clarified what some of the reports have been saying about this

01:40and it said the Bengals don't really want to negotiate the fine print and the language that they're trying

01:45to include in Shamar Stewart's contract. And the complaint from Hiller and Stewart's camp is that if they want to

01:50include this new precedent then they have to give ground someplace else in the negotiation. Hiller's

01:54full quote was, it's essentially that when a player signs a contract and it's guaranteed it should be

01:59completely fully guaranteed. Obviously if there are certain circumstances that happen the team should

02:03be able to avoid. However again if you want to make changes to your precedent it should be a negotiation.

02:08It should be give and take. It shouldn't just be hey we're changing this and sign it or go scratch.

02:13And on the surface I agree with Hiller here. If the Bengals want to establish a new precedent and have

02:17Shamar Stewart sign a contract that no other draft pick before him has ever signed then there has to

02:22be some sort of concessions here. Now the amount of money that Shamar Stewart can make in this contract

02:26is not necessarily negotiable because of the rookie wage scale but when some of that signing bonus money

02:30goes into his bank account that is entirely negotiable right? That's a concession that the

02:34Bengals can make here and is a way to make peace. On that front I fully agree with Hiller and I agree

02:39with what he's saying even if I don't agree with him taking it to the media and having this whole circus

02:43follow it. Where Hiller and I would disagree involved the next thing that he said in the

02:47interview saying quote all he he being Stewart wants to do is be a Cincinnati Bengal. This guy

02:52was so excited to get drafted by Cincinnati all he wants to do is be a Bengal. All he wanted to do

02:57was be on the field and show the Cincinnati fans the incredible specimen person football player that

03:02this team was lucky to draft where they drafted and he's not been allowed to do that. That of course is

03:07a bold-faced lie. He's lying to me. He's lying to you. He's lying to anyone who happened to listen

03:12because Shamar Stewart was the only unsigned rookie who did not practice during voluntary workouts and

03:19OTAs and mandatory minicamp. There were plenty of other unsigned draft picks practicing with their

03:23teams because they had signed the injury waiver that basically protects their contract from being

03:26changed if an injury does happen before they sign. Stewart made the conscious choice to not sign

03:30that and therefore to not practice even though he definitely could have. And I think this is where

03:35Hiller and Stewart's camp in general is losing a lot of Bengals fans here because he is not the first

03:39player to have a contract dispute for the Bengals but he is the only one in recent memory who hasn't

03:44done anything yet on the field and is still doing this. Like it is much different when Trey Henderson

03:49coming off of an all-pro season skips out on off-season workouts or when Jamar Chase is holding

03:53in in training camp looking for an extension after three incredible years with the Bengals. Shamar Stewart

03:58has yet to put on his helmet and yet his agent is out here saying that he has no choice but to not

04:02practice. Now I understand why Stewart hasn't practiced because he thinks that it's a way of exercising

04:07leverage to get the Bengals to take out this language in this contract but again lying about

04:11it just doesn't really do you any good. No matter what side of the fence you find yourself here with

04:15this dilemma I understand why you're upset because from a 30,000 foot view in the air it seems like

04:20neither side is handling this as best as they could be and that is exactly how these situations can start

04:25and how they can last for a lot longer than they should. Which is why we may have to wait weeks if not

04:30months until the next real update about any of this.

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