Bengals bungling things up - new rookie contract clause

[eball]

Without getting into the details of the contractual language (which I don't know), I'll just say this:  the Bengals seem to be more interested in winning arguments than they do football games.

 

[Low Positive]

6 minutes ago, eball said:

Without getting into the details of the contractual language (which I don't know), I'll just say this:  the Bengals seem to be more interested in winning arguments than they do football games.

 

Shemar Stewart agrees with you. Here is a quote from him:

"I'm not asking for nothing y’all (the team) has never done before,” Stewart said. “But in y’all (the team’s) case, y'all (the team) just want to win arguments (more) than winning more games."

[Process]

Don't know the details of the dispute and don't care. I read somewhere that no first round pick has ever had the language the bengals are looking for in their contract, and that's all you need to know. 

 

Clown organization. Burrow vs Allen in the Superbowl will be fun in a few years after he is traded to the NFC. 

[Low Positive]

6 minutes ago, Process said:

Don't know the details of the dispute and don't care. I read somewhere that no first round pick has ever had the language the bengals are looking for in their contract, and that's all you need to know. 

 

Clown organization. Burrow vs Allen in the Superbowl will be fun in a few years after he is traded to the NFC. 

They want the ability to draft guys with character "concerns" and not have to pay the cost when the issues inevitably arise. They got burned by Jermaine Burton just this past year. That's what this is about. And lookie here! Pac Man Jones is still getting arrested: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/06/11/adam-pacman-jones-pleads-not-guilty-to-assaulting-officer/84136075007/

[DrDawkinstein]

Just now, Low Positive said:

They want the ability to draft guys with character "concerns" and not have to pay the cost when the issues inevitably arise. They got burned by Jermaine Burton just this past year. That's what this is about. And lookie here! Pac Man Jones is still getting arrested: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2025/06/11/adam-pacman-jones-pleads-not-guilty-to-assaulting-officer/84136075007/

 

Honestly asking because I havent googled: what is the story with shemar stewart? he already get in trouble before?

[RyanC883]

What does it mean for him to “default” on the contract?  If it is something 100 percent in his control (off field stuff) then the money is guaranteed (only Stewart can cancel it by his behavior).  Of course this being Cincy it could be injury or some other thing like play performance

Edited Wednesday at 07:45 PM by RyanC883

[SoonerBillsFan]

3 hours ago, The Wiz said:

I can't believe how much this team is mismanaging some of their players but just saw this and I can't imagine anyone would want to sign that contract.

 

Basically, if he defaults on his contract in any year, he voids all remaining guaranteed money for the remainder of the contract.

 

 

NFLPA isn't going to go for that.

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

NFLPA isn't going to go for that.

NFLPA allows for clauses in contracts including defaulting 

 

Rub and tug DeShaun Watson has a defaulting clause in his contract

 

 like if you do something stupid as an NFL player.. and destroy your knee water skiing the contract is definitely going to get voided .. that would be something that could default a contract

[Low Positive]

15 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

 

Honestly asking because I havent googled: what is the story with shemar stewart? he already get in trouble before?

Not at all. They just got burned by Jermaine Burton last year so they wanna rewrite the boilerplate contract language so they can keep drafting bad dudes without paying the financial price. 

[DJB]

I actually don’t think it’s terrible for teams to try to implement this. Wasn’t this kid a bit of a knucklehead?

 

And with so many busts in the NFL provides some protection for the team 

[julian]

3 minutes ago, DJB said:

I actually don’t think it’s terrible for teams to try to implement this. Wasn’t this kid a bit of a knucklehead?

 

And with so many busts in the NFL provides some protection for the team 

It’s a great idea for teams, not so much for players, hence the issue

[Buffalo716]

1 hour ago, RyanC883 said:

What does it mean for him to “default” on the contract?  If it is something 100 percent in his control (off field stuff) then the money is guaranteed (only Stewart can cancel it by his behavior).  Of course this being Cincy it could be injury or some other thing like play performance

There are players in the NFL who have clauses in their contract 

 

Defaulting... Could be a host of things.. but typically something the player is in control of 

 

Like he's water skiing, and not supposed to.. and he shreds his knee and cannot play 

 

Or A player defaulting on a contract could involve violating a covenant related to conduct (e.g., violating team rules or engaging in illegal activities

[The Wiz]

44 minutes ago, DJB said:

I actually don’t think it’s terrible for teams to try to implement this. Wasn’t this kid a bit of a knucklehead?

 

And with so many busts in the NFL provides some protection for the team 

Why does a team that is making billions of dollars a year need protection from a rookie making roughly $10-15m over the course of their rookie contract?

 

It's not protecting themselves.  It's allowing them to write a narrative that in any situation, they can decide to terminate his contract because they picked the wrong player.  Seems like a "slumlord" model of operating your team.

Edited Wednesday at 09:13 PM by The Wiz

[Buffalo716]

19 minutes ago, The Wiz said:

Why does a team that is making billions of dollars a year need protection from a rookie making roughly $10-15m over the course of their rookie contract?

 

It's not protecting themselves.  It's allowing them to write a narrative that in any situation, they can decide to terminate his contract because they picked the wrong player.  Seems like a "slumlord" model of operating your team.

Some players have clauses in their contract 

 

It's not so they can terminate his contract if he's the wrong player... It's so  they can terminate his guarantees if he tears his ACL playing basketball in the off-season

 

The bills did not give Hines all his guaranteed money when he got into that Ski-Doo accident... He lost money

Edited Wednesday at 09:32 PM by Buffalo716

[Walking Tall]

They really should try to rehabilitate their image as a franchise. I suggest they can start by trading us Chase for a 4th.

[Augie]

I can see both sides, honestly. If you are a jackass and ruin your career, why should we still have to pay you? Of course I can also understand “why should I be the first guy?”  I wouldn’t sign it as a player, and I think I’d have some advantage because of the Bengals reputation. The Bengals look stupid for asking to change the terms, and will look even more stupid if/when they cave. But I don’t think it’s unfair. 

 

The Bengals just find ways to look stupid and cheap. 

[Buffalo716]

5 minutes ago, Augie said:

I can see both sides, honestly. If you are a jackass and ruin your career, why should we still have to pay you? Of course I can also understand “why should I be the first guy?”  I wouldn’t sign it as a player, and I think I’d have some advantage because of the Bengals reputation. The Bengals look stupid for asking to change the terms, and will look even more stupid if/when they cave. But I don’t think it’s unfair. 

 

The Bengals just find ways to look stupid and cheap. 

I think he wants people to think he's the first player with a clause in his contract 

 

There are  NFL players who have a defaulting clause in their NFL contract 

 

He's not the first

 

Now maybe the Bengals are really pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable but NFL contracts have definitely included them before

 

But every single contract has a conduct detrimental to the team clause

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:34 PM by Buffalo716

[The Wiz]

15 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

A lot of NFL players have clauses in their contract 

 

It's not so they can terminate his contract if he's the wrong player... It's so  they can terminate his guarantees if he tears his ACL playing basketball in the off-season

 

The bills did not give Hines all his guaranteed money when he got into that Ski-Doo accident... He lost money

And that's a perfectly legitimate reason to do it.  The problem being that they are taking away "All' guaranteed money and nothing is specified on what it means to "default" is the issue.

If they want to say "can't ride an ATV or ski-doo", fine.  If they say, "If you default on your contract, you will lose all your guarantee" without laying out what it means in that same clause, they are basically trying to make it so no matter what, if something happens to him, they can cancel all of his guaranteed money.

 

 

It's the same type of "catch-all" that you see in job descriptions where it says "and all other responsibilities".  You might not know you are responsible for something until 4 years later and your boss finally says, "Oh btw, you have to work this weekend because that falls under your job description".  It's a shady way of doing business.

Edited Wednesday at 09:36 PM by The Wiz

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, The Wiz said:

And that's a perfectly legitimate reason to do it.  The problem being that they are taking away "All' guaranteed money and nothing is specified on what it means to "default" is the issue.

If they want to say "can't ride an ATV or ski-doo", fine.  If they say, "If you default on your contract, you will lose all your guarantee" without laying out what it means in that same clause, they are basically trying to make it so no matter what, if something happens to him, they can cancel all of his guaranteed money.

All very true and I'm not a lawyer and have not read the contract 

 

If they are going above and beyond that's sad.. if they layed out some specific things, like no basketball or snowboarding... To protect his knees 

 

I understand that

[The Wiz]

1 minute ago, Buffalo716 said:

All very true and I'm not a lawyer and have not read the contract 

 

If they are going above and beyond that's sad.. if they layed out some specific things, like no basketball or snowboarding... To protect his knees 

 

I understand that

This is the part where I feel like they are, also without seeing the contract.  If his agent is telling him not to sign it, there must be something in there that is basically a big red flag.

 

It could be something as simple as what you are speculating "basketball/snowboarding/etc" but could be something as easy as saying "oh, you were late to this meeting and that counts against your contract so no guaranteed money".  Far ends of the spectrum I know, but I tend to assume that most of these franchises, especially the Bengals, will find every way to screw players out of money.

 

Hendrickson is living proof of that right now.