Bengals First Round Pick Shemar Stewart Didn't Sign Injury Waiver for One Big Reason

CINCINNATI — Bengals first round pick Shemar Stewart didn't participate in on-field drills during the offseason program. He's the only healthy rookie that didn't participate in workouts.

Why?

His representatives didn't like the language used in the injury protection waiver the Bengals presented them with before rookie minicamp.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk read the Bengals' agreement and compared it to the one used by another team.

"Cincinnati’s agreement applies if the player 'sustains a disabling NFL football-related injury,'" Florio wrote. "At least one other team removes the phrase 'disabling,' which introduces ambiguity and (potentially) an avenue for the team lawyering their way out of the deal."

Stewart was on the field for the offseason program, but stood on the sideline watching. He left minicamp a day early. There is another difference in the Bengals' agreement:

"The Bengals’ agreement also doesn’t contain a clear commitment to give Stewart a contract commensurate with being the 17th overall pick in the draft.," Florio wrote. "The other team’s expressly says that the terms 'shall be commensurate' with the player’s slot."

The Bengals selected Stewart with the No. 17 selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. Both the Bengals and Stewart's representatives should want to make sure he's on the field for the start of training camp later this month.

Check out Florio's entire article here.

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