Longest NFL rookie holdouts: Where Bengals' Shemar Stewart ranks on list
Shemar Stewart is set to walk a lonely road as NFL training camp gets underway.
The Cincinnati Bengals rookie is holding out thanks to what has become a well-publicized dispute with the team that drafted him. Darrelle Revis and Le'Veon Bell are two of the more famed holdouts in recent NFL history, but the tactic has become uncommon for rookies following the introduction of the rookie wage scale.
With slotted contracts for each draft position, there is typically no reason for these disputes to escalate. Other than offset language and the signing bonus, negotiations for rookies are fairly cut-and-dry.
Stewart and the Bengals have become the exception this offseason.
It all stems from Cincinnati's desire to insert a new clause into the rookie's deal. While the language can change, Stewart is slotted for a four-year, $18.9 million deal, according to Spotrac. However, that change in contract language would allow the Bengals to void future guarantees in Stewart's contract, according to Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Stewart has opted to sit out all the offseason activities since being drafted, instead choosing to observe from the sidelines. Some have speculated whether the rookie could sit out his rookie year and try again next season.
It's a difficult situation for both sides to navigate, especially for a Bengals team that has been no stranger to contract disputes over the years. This is uncharted territory, even for them.
Here's a look at the longest rookie holdouts in the NFL.
What is the longest NFL rookie holdout?
Joey Bosa owns the longest NFL holdout for a rookie since the rookie wage scale was introduced with the 2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Bosa was in a dispute with the then-San Diego Chargers after being selected with the third pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. The updated 2011 CBA attempted to streamline the process for rookies, ending any haggling or need for negotiations by providing a slotted contract for each spot in the draft.
Offset language and signing bonuses are the only things left for debate – the two things that prevented Bosa's signature ending up on a contract with the Chargers earlier.
His holdout lasted 31 days in total and Bosa signed just before the team's last preseason game, inking a deal on Aug. 29, 2016.
Bosa would go on to make his NFL debut in Week 5 of the 2016 season after missing four games with a hamstring injury.
A few years before the rookie scale's introduction, Michael Crabtree made headlines with the San Francisco 49ers for his lengthy absence. Picked 10th in the 2009 NFL Draft, the 49ers rookie didn't sign his contract until October, when he ended a 72-day holdout.
It wasn't clear at the time whether Crabtree would opt to reenter the draft in 2010. After signing a six-year, $32 million deal worth a maximum of $40 million, the 49ers rookie made his debut in Week 7 of the 2009 NFL season.
Has an NFL rookie ever sat out an entire season?
Holdouts are a popular tactic to apply in negotiations as players try to find whatever leverage they can. However, they don't typically lead to a player sitting out an entire season. Here are the times involving a rookie where it did:
Bo Jackson
Jackson was taken with the first pick in the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but famously never played a down for the team. As the story goes, Jackson would sit out the entire 1986 season thanks to his desire to play baseball and to not play for Buccaneers' owner, Hugh Culverhouse.
That stemmed from Jackson losing his college eligibility over a visit to the Buccaneers' facility on Culverhouse's plane – which broke NCAA rules. The two-sport athlete couldn't finish his senior year of college baseball at Auburn and claimed he wouldn't play for Tampa if they drafted him into the NFL.
Culverhouse's team tried to call Jackson's bluff, but the college star was serious. The future Raider eventually spent his time away from football to play for MLB's Kansas City Royals.
Then the Los Angeles Raiders came calling in the seventh round of the 1987 NFL Draft, which became the base for Jackson's football operation.
He would go on to play both football and baseball, solidifying himself as one of the best athletes of all-time.
Kelly Stouffer
Jackson found his football home in the 1987 NFL Draft, but Stouffer couldn't say the same. The sixth overall pick was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals – the team's final season before moving to Arizona.
Unimpressed by the team's contract offers, Stouffer opted to sit out his rookie season in an effort to get to a new team in 1988.
Stouffer believed the Cardinals used his selection as motivation for then-quarterback Neil Lomax, according to the LA Times, adding that it wasn't much of a negotiation.
“[Cardinals owner Bill Bidwill] flat-out told me they didn’t have to be fair, because I didn’t have any leverage,” Stouffer said.
The Seattle Seahawks went on to trade for the quarterback in advance of the following season. As for Stouffer, he only went to start 16 games in his NFL career, posting a 5-11 record and throwing 19 interceptions to only seven touchdowns.
In other words, Stewart might have a wide range of career outcomes if he opts to sit out the 2025 season. There's Jackson and Stouffer on opposite ends of the spectrum with plenty of room in between.
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