The surprising standoff between the Cincinnati Bengals and first-round pick Shemar Stewart now has more context.
According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, the Bengals came up short due to a disagreement on percentage of money paid as training camp roster bonuses:
"The training-camp roster bonus has become a device for putting a sizable chunk of the player’s pay in his pockets in future years, early in the season. In this case, the numbers offered by the Bengals reflected a lower percentage than the 17th overall pick received in 2024.