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Bengals only have themselves to blame for Shemar Stewart's absence

Prince J. Grimes   For The Win

The Cincinnati Bengals are peeved.

Training camp began Saturday for rookies, and first-round pick Shemar Stewart still isn't in the building because of a dispute over language regarding guarantees in the contract he was offered. In a nutshell, the team understandably doesn't want to be on the hook for guaranteed money in the event Stewart can't play due to his own detrimental conduct -- a standard clause for most first-rounders across the league. Bengals owner Mike Brown went so far as to call it "foolishness" that the sides haven't agreed to terms, in his media availability Monday.

But here's the thing: the Bengals don't have anyone to be upset with but themselves.

Cincinnati is apparently one of the last NFL teams to add this type of language to its contract for first-rounders. According to The Enquirer, first-round picks in previous years had deals that said something completely different than the contract offered to Stewart. So, what's more understandable than the team's stance is why Stewart would be taken aback. Especially after Brown publicly painted the slimy scenario of Stewart sitting in jail, which only makes you wonder what he says when the cameras aren't rolling.

"His agent wants it to be so that if he acted in a terrible fashion — this is all hypothetical — something that rises to the level of going to prison, that we would be on the line for the guarantee for the future years that hadn’t been paid," Brown said. "Our position is if that happens, we’re not going to be. We’re not going to be paying someone who is sitting in jail."

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Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin contends the team is simply evolving, saying “it really doesn’t make any sense to say that Cincinnati doesn’t get to evolve their contracts, yet the rest of the league evolves their contracts. I don’t buy into that philosophy at all."

He's not wrong. The Bengals do get to evolve. But the thing about evolution is it usually happens over time. So, while it makes sense that Cincinnati wants to catch up with the rest of the league, the team can't be surprised if the first person affected by that change doesn't like it. In that scenario, just find middle ground if possible -- a compromise where maybe only a part of the guarantees are voided, which still gets you closer to the language you want for future years. If not possible, just sign Stewart to the same deal you gave every other first-round pick and push for the change another year. Get your first-round defensive end who doesn't have a history of trouble in the building!

Instead, the Bengals are dug in. Now, Stewart is missing valuable practice time. Good work, Cincy.

Jerry Jones remains his own worst enemy

Jerry Jones just can't help himself. We've seen it so many times before that it shouldn't come as a surprise. But when it's time for the Dallas Cowboys to pay one of their stars, Jones often says things he just... shouldn't.

We saw it again yesterday when Jones called Micah Parsons' availability into question (and took a swipe at Dak Prescott in the process), using the scenario of Parsons getting hit by a car in some weird explanation for all the factors Dallas has to consider in negotiating an extension.

As Christian D'Andrea wrote, Jerry Jones' worst NFL enemy remains Jerry Jones.

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