The Cincinnati Bengals’ rookie minicamp is in the books, but Shemar Stewart and Demetrius Knight Jr. are not. Their top two draft picks sat out as they work on completing their rookie contracts. Many rookies do not complete their contracts before minicamp, but few actually decline to practice. They sign a standard waiver called a Rookie Participation Agreement that protects them from injury.
Stewart and Knight both declined to do so, without elaborating on why. Stewart merely said that he “just decided not to sign those papers”, but emphasized that he was “doing everything else”.