ArmyBengal

Yes the clause is used by other teams. Yes, most of those players still practice. However, what other teams or players do is completely irrelevant. I mean who cares what the Eagles do? What does Shemar care of if Jihaad Campbell has that clause or if he's on the field? He doesn't and shouldn't. He cares what happens with his contract as he should. The reality of the situation is the Bengals have never used this clause on ANY first round pick in ALL HISTORY. They may or may not use it in other players contracts, but that doesn't matter either. It's something new and Shemar doesn't want to be the first player because it lacks fairness. Tell me why Shemar should have that language in his contract. Why? Because the front office wants it? That's it. What has the team given in response to something new being added to a contract that has never happened? If they want him to be the first, do something like Hoosier and others have suggested in sweetening up front money. You know, because if we are so worried about what other teams are doing, they do that as well. Let me go back to Joe for a minute and I don't know that dude from Adam, but he has insight and access the normal fan doesn't. Do you have ins with Bengals decision makers? With players and agents? He fucking spoke with Shemar's agent to get his take for Christ sake. So yeah, his opinion is at least worth the listen REGARDLESS of whether I agree with him or not. Let me clarify something else. I originally felt the Bengals front office was completely at fault. I dug in a little more, read and listened and changed my opinion. Turns out I completely agree with the thought of Shemar getting bad advice in how to handle this situation. They have played their part in this bullshit happening. However, to suggest the Bengals have played this flawlessly (See no mistakes on their part) might be the dumbest take of all. No fault huh? Not even a little? Lastly, you still can't manage to ever consider another person's opinion outside of your own. You don't discuss anything here, you simply put your thoughts out there as a final product without the ability to question. Everything is debatable and everything can be discussed with varying view points. That's the whole point of people coming together to share their thoughts. Amazing how many people on this board have you on ignore, completely disregard your posts and generally agreed with me on you being an insufferable dick.

God you are just insufferable. Regardless of the things I agree with you about, you just can't help to find something to argue and piss and moan about. I simply posted a podcast episode and said I like Joe's thoughts. That's it. There are some things to agree with and some things I don't agree with. For the "MOST PART" I liked his take. But NOOOOOOOOO, here comes captain save a hoe (See the front office) who just has to defend them to no end and the only people being stupid are Shemar's camp. I merely pointed out that both sides are being stupid, which by the way was a change of opinion on my point in considering there is in fact more to it. Who cares what Joe thinks? No one that I know of. He simply provides another take and I happen to like his thoughts. "Oh my God fans are so trolled" You're a dick.

Ahh, the effects of having delicious food hot off the grill !!! I'll take that problem.

You know TJ, just because I know the trauma you have had to endure over your dead Gramma, I would do that interest free for you. Give me a little less than 10 years to make that million and it's all yours brother. I mean, it's the least I could do for the people I care about.

I have two kids, so I guess it's good I've got $120 million sitting in my account. Oh wait. By that thought, I need to send my kids back and wait the little less than 600 years it will take me to make $60 million at my current salary. Then again, I can only get one kid back. Decisions, decisions... My wife is going to be disappointed with this new standard of living. It sucks being poor.

I knew I should have waited to have my driveway done.

I like Joe's take on Stewart. Shemar and his agent haven't handled this well, but the Bengals front office wants something new. It never should have ended up in the media space to be divulged in that manner. While other teams have and still do utilize this type of language in their rookie contracts, the Bengals haven't. I have said and agree with Joe, that if it were me, I'd be pissed if I was expected to be the first. While the Bengals have the right to implement contractual changes, make the transition easier for Christ sake. Obviously, the deal will get done, but the silliness surrounding this has been next level. I like Joe's thought on if the Bengals want to make this change, negotiate some sort of reason to make it happen. Signing bonus timelines or something of that nature. Taking a hard stance wasn't the smart approach. So today, I'm still in the same space of being anti stupid and both sides have been more stupid than needed. Hey Bengals and Shemar... pull your heads out of your asses, talk it out and make it happen. You don't get better taking hard stances. Nothing good has come from this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcFoBSRGVKo

Well supposedly the Bengals and Hendrickson are back and negotiating today. Would be nice to have something positive come from that.

Hey COB, have you heard this? Brutal… https://youtu.be/lCM2YxDg6OQ?si=2nFXodFaMonTTgn1

I agree with this. Hoping changes make the difference.

McPherson really needs to have a bounce back season this year. I think there was an injury concern last year, but I could be wrong. Thought I read that somewhere.

I'm good. Moving on. I'm really interested in seeing this defense and what Golden does with the scheme. I don't usually hit up training camp practices, but might do that this season.

Dude, chill out. This isn't an argument. I'm not trying to "win" anything here. Just discussing. Let me go through this. 1. What other players do has no bearing on Stewart. If they choose to take the risk, that's on them. Stewart isn't required to do so. Couple that with he's the only one (to this point) that is having this specific issue, which the BENGALS created. 2. Could a clause like that be necessary? Sure, but to what end? They want the ability to not pay out guarantees IF Stewart jacks something up. They want to extend that through the life of contract, as opposed to just the guarantees for the year he jacked up whatever he did. I can see that being a tool a team could want to use. HOWEVER AND AGAIN, we aren't talking about a $30m per year payout. This is LESS than $5m per season. They are going to get Stewart for 4 years for LESS than they are offering Trey for a single season. Why all the fuss over pocket change? It is pocket change as well. Even if it's multiple years, at $5m per, that's nothing in the NFL contract world. God knows the Bengals have pissed away far more than that in the past. 3. Of course players have been taken off the field by the league office, but what in the world has Stewart done which makes this sucj a foregone conclusion that they just have to get back their $5 million? Does he have a history or some criminal activity? Has he been banging 15 year olds? What is causing them to be sooooo concerned about him? If the answer is predicated on productivity on the field, then they shouldn't have drafted him. 4. I would be interested to see the exact language of the clause, but all we have is what has been reported. If teams want to include them, fine, but I suspect until that becomes a staple across the league players are going to push back. If any of us were in his position, we would probably be like, "Why are you doing this to me, when you have NEVER done this to any player before?". Fair is fair right? So unless there is some reason fans haven't been told about Stewart's background that hasn't been shared (like him liking little boys with big ears and no teeth). I still call BS. Not because there isn't a potential use for a clause of that nature. Communication is key and it sounds like the Bengals haven't done that very well. But then again, it's not like that's a strong suit of theirs.

My take as it appears? Defense = All on Golden, go to war with what you've got. O-line = All on Peters, go to war with what you've got. Fortunately for me, I happen to think the world of both Golden and Peters. I like to feel that both Knight and Carter will help the linebacking corps. I also like to feel that Fairchild will be better than Volson at LG. Then again, maybe he doesn't beat him out. But yeah... rookies. The free agent addition of Lucas Patrick should stabilize the RG position as well. Right? Maybe? I hate the thought of Ford at RG. My opinion of him = ass. As of right now, Ford is the only new starter on the offensive side of the ball. No other changes. The defensive side sees more changes with, as of right now, 6 new starters from last year. Ossai, Slaton, Knight, Burks, Battle, Hill (Subject to change).

Be safe boys. Healthy = good. Injuries = bad.

The injury waiver is another example of where one might fall in the pro owner, pro player debate. The injury waiver simply allows the team to place the player on IR and it ensures the players will get medical care. It does not guarantee pay or anything else from a contractual standpoint. I'm also not going to compare what other players are or have gone through regarding their stupid decisions. Tucker/Watson Stewart, regardless of my lukewarm thoughts on him, doesn't have those concerns. Again, we are talking relative pocket change in NFL money, as opposed to negotiating an extension for Trey. Stewart won't cost $5 million per season while he's here. That's why teams don't typically cut rookies. They don't count for much against the cap.

What will make it wrong in waiting 2 weeks? If it's wrong in 2 weeks, it's wrong now. The defense is on the field now. I could understand it if there was something in Stewart's past which would concern the team, like was the case with Carman. However, that's not the case. There was a solution to that problem if there was a concern... Don't draft him. The team isn't wrong because Stewart says so. They are wrong for creating something out of thin air when it's not necessary. Because they want to void remaining guarantees "if" Stewart fucks something up? They are basing this on a "what if"? We are talking about a 4 year contract for less than $20m WITH a 5th year club option. Not a $30m per season deal. The other rookies on the field already either don't have that clause in their deal or won't. If they try to push it, I bet they push back. Am I losing sleep over it? Of course not. It makes no difference in my life in the least. That doesn't make it NOT stupid. Honestly, the team has continued to put themselves in this position by drafting guys like this they know have questions. How about you just don't do that if the questions are that damn concerning the guy you just drafted doesn't even get on the field? It's not like there weren't at least 5 other players available that could have had an equal impact on the roster than Stewart. Also, it's not like this precludes them from restructuring that players deal either. They just did that with Volson. They are concerned about "what if" they lose "some" money in the future "if" the player fucks up, but they can't manage another $5m per year to keep Trey? Again, make that make sense. We are talking about less than $5m per year for Stewart. What the hell are they so worried about losing? EDIT: This clause will keep money in their pocket. I'm not opposed to that, but to what end? I'm not exactly pro player or pro owner. I'm pro "not stupid". There is a little on both sides, but the team didn't have to do this. Yeah, pointing and laughing.

Perfect

The team, not the media, has noted their desire to develop Stewart’s immense athletic ability and see him not only get pressure, but get home. You cant do any of that when you are busy creating new rules to impose on someone that isn’t a part of the team yet. How fucking stupid is that? We aren’t talking about a veteran player under contract. It’s a rookie who still isn’t even employed by the team. This is making up shit as you go just for the sake of it. It’s already a rookie deal that favors ownership. They paid Chase like 4 million last year and they are worried about saving money for a rookie? Seriously, get the fuck out of here.

Anyone want to step to the plate to defend the front office? I just need to know who to point at and laugh....

Well, the Cardinals just signed their 1st round pick (Nolen) who was picked just before the Bengals took Stewart. It should be interesting to see his contract makeup and hear what the Bengals do at that point. Maybe the silly ass Tomfuckery can come to an end.

Yeah, when looking at how they have been compensated, it's tells the story. Trey's less than $70m in his career, where Watt is at like $110m.

$28m shouldn't be enough for Watt. His production throughout his career has been next level. Model of Pro Bowl and All Pro consistency, along with not only winning the DPoY, but always in the mix each season. His stats are ungodly and he is just a beast of a football player that regardless of the team, you have to appreciate from a pure fan perspective. If he played in Cincinnati, he would be everyone's favorite player. Much respect to his game. The fact outlets only have him projected to make only about $6-$7m more than Trey per year is crazy. If Trey is worthy of something between $30m and $35m, Watt is worthy of north of $40m. I hate that he plays for the Steelers, but he's an animal.

I don't disagree with this at all. I think it's part of the reason I'm not as concerned about the o-line as in years past. They (the coaches) seem to think the offense is going to be top end regardless. I've just always been of the line of thought that I wonder how much better they could be? If Joe is going to take the blame for last season's failure, when he turned in an MVP season, and thinks he could have done more, that more should be coming off the back of the offensive line. That is literally the only way he could have done more.

Have to say straight up releasing Pratt was the last thing I wanted to see. No trade compensation, lose (at a minimum) depth to a linebacker corps that needs it, and a guy that Golden drafted. I'm just saying that if this release doesn't result in a Trey extension, it's stupid. I wish Germaine the best of luck and thank him for his time here. I will never forget the game clinching INT against the Raiders in the playoffs breaking our playoff win drought. My son and I were there screaming, jumping up and down, going bat shit crazy. Thanks Germaine !! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0yoPAhj4Tk