Bengals 1st RD Pick could go back to College?

[Big Blitz]

 

 

[SoonerBillsFan]

3 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

If they don't sign the contract, they have the right to do that if they still have eligibility. 

 

Fitting it would happen to the Bungles.

[PetermansRedemption]

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to give in to whatever small demand I’m sure the Bengals won’t give in on, sign the contract, prove your worth, and hit NFL free agency a year sooner?

[H2o]

10 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

The Bengals deserve every failure and mishap just the same as the Browns. I hope he does go back to school.  

[Goin Breakdown]

And get picked in the 5th round. 

[Big Blitz]

 

[That's No Moon]

2 minutes ago, Big Blitz said:

 

If that's correct, returning to school makes no sense because he still belongs to the Bengals next year.

[The Red King]

That doesn't sound right.  Go into the draft a year early, don't like who takes you so you say, nah, dude, and try again next year?

[Fan in Chicago]

1 hour ago, Big Blitz said:

 

 

Will I get a warning point if I call him an idiot?

[MJS]

Seems like a big risk. He should stay and play in the NFL and get over whatever gripes he and/or his agent have. Yes, the Bengals are tough to deal with, but come on...

[Watkins90]

2 hours ago, PetermansRedemption said:

Wouldn’t it just make more sense to give in to whatever small demand I’m sure the Bengals won’t give in on, sign the contract, prove your worth, and hit NFL free agency a year sooner?

No because then you ***** other players. Other teams will just stick the same contract language into other deals. You don't want to set the precedent. 

3 minutes ago, MJS said:

Seems like a big risk. He should stay and play in the NFL and get over whatever gripes he and/or his agent have. Yes, the Bengals are tough to deal with, but come on...

It's about language that the Bengals are trying to put in that would void guaranteed money in certain situations. This is language that isn't traditionally in contracts. So, he should stand his crown. ***** the owners, they always looking to screw the players out of money at any turn. 

[That's No Moon]

1 hour ago, The Red King said:

That doesn't sound right.  Go into the draft a year early, don't like who takes you so you say, nah, dude, and try again next year?

That part is correct and he wouldn't be the first to do it though it is very rare rare.  Bo Jackson did it.  He was drafted first overall in 1986 by Tampa Bay. He didn't sign with Tampa (which he told them before the draft), played baseball, went back into the draft in 1987, and was selected by the Raiders in the 7th round where he ultimately signed and played two sports.  John Elway made a similar threat when he threatened to play for the Yankees than play for the Colts.  Had that actually happened and refused to sign with the Colts, baseball or no, he would have gone into the 1984 draft.

 

The piece that I don't think is accurate with the current situation is the going back to college to play part.  From what I've seen, the player forfeits their right to play in college when they declare for the NFL draft and can't go back.  There are rules about that and he'd probably have to sue his way back onto the field at Texas A&M.  However, If he doesn't play at all, the Bengals don't retain his rights and he goes back into the draft and can be drafted again in 2026 by anyone EXCEPT the Bengals.

 

Other players who did this were Craig Erickson who was drafted by the Eagles in 1991, did not sign, and was then drafted again by the Buccaneers in 1992 and Melvin Bratton who was drafted by the Dolphins in 1988, did not sign, and was drafted again by the Broncos in 1989.  Both players had serious knee injuries in their bowl games prior to the draft that significantly impacted their draft status, and they ultimately couldn't come to an agreement with the teams that chose them. They both went back into the draft the following year and were re-drafted.

 

The Bills acquired Cornelius Bennett in a similar situation. He was drafted by the Colts and refused to sign.  He was well on his way to sitting out the 1987 season and going back into the 1988 draft when the Colts traded his rights on Halloween night of 1987.

 

The Bengals have until Week 10 to sign the player. If not, he's essentially, though not officially, gone.  If Stewart really really wants out he can make this happen and someone will make the trade.  Collusion in this situation would be exceedingly easy to prove so I don't think the league will try to orchestrate that.  In the previous situations there were extenuating circumstances. Bo played baseball and communicated clearly to teams not to choose him because he was going to play baseball (Al Davis talked him into doing both and baseball was top priority). It was understandable why he would drop from 1st overall to the 7th round the next year. Bratton and Erickson were hurt at the end of their college careers (and probably got bad advice).  In the current situation, the player was clearly a 1st round choice, had no injury concerns and sat a year.  It would not be reasonable for him to drop very far next year and if the league colluded and he suddenly went undrafted that would be a slam dunk case for Stewart.

 

It won't get to that point. The Bengals won't just let a 1st round choice walk away. They will either cave on the language or trade the player.  With the money college kids now receive, they are MUCH more able to sustain a holdout like this and it will be interesting to see if this happens more often in the future.

19 minutes ago, Watkins90 said:

No because then you ***** other players. Other teams will just stick the same contract language into other deals. You don't want to set the precedent. 

It's about language that the Bengals are trying to put in that would void guaranteed money in certain situations. This is language that isn't traditionally in contracts. So, he should stand his crown. ***** the owners, they always looking to screw the players out of money at any turn. 

Yes, he should stick to his guns. You can bet that all the other agents are in his corner and the NFLPA is quietly rooting for him to continue the holdout as well.

[Thurman#1]

3 hours ago, SoonerBillsFan said:

If they don't sign the contract, they have the right to do that if they still have eligibility. 

 

Fitting it would happen to the Bungles.

 

Glad I'm not a Bengals fan.

 

Ownership is such crap there.