Shemar Stewart has yet to sign his NFL contract with the Cincinnati Bengals. He might even try to return to Texas A&M for a fourth season of college football if you are to believe the latest earth-shattering report.
I will be happy to eat my words if I am wrong but that is absolutely not going to happen.
This most recent offseason story first came to the surface because of Bud Elliott of 247 and CBS Sports. The college football insider floated the idea on the Cover 3 Podcast.
“A guy who has had some good A&M stuff in the past, he hit me, he’s like, ‘Hey, Shemar might end up back here… He’s been at College Station. He’s been fully involved in workouts,'” Elliott said. “He could try to come back and play again this season and go into the draft again next year.”
I am not here to question Elliott or what he was told. I don’t doubt someone said that.
It is not going to happen.
Shemar Stewart was selected with the No. 17 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. The last two and a half months have been a disaster.
Although Stewart reported to mandatory minicamp, he refused to participate in any on-field drills without a formal contract and ultimately left early. Prior to his departure, the 21-year-old defensive end publicly criticized the organization for its role in the stalled negotiations.
Cincinnati wants Stewart to sign a deal that includes language to void all of the monetary guarantees if he was to ever run into legal trouble. The clause could be in response to last year’s third-round pick Jermaine Burton. Burton was involved in a domestic dispute and twice evicted from his apartment during his rookie season.
Although it is not uncommon for NFL teams to use this kind of language, rookie contracts typically look different. Players usually have only one year of guarantees voided for the year in which the legal issues occur, not all of the guarantees in the deal.
Shemar Stewart said no.
The Bengals are at a standstill with their first-round pick. I would imagine Stewart wants to know why this proposed language starts with him and how it would effect him in the future. That seems fair.
As a result, he is choosing to hold out.
With just a few weeks until the start of training camp, Shemar Stewart is reportedly working out at the Texas A&M football facility in College Station. Elliott’s source claims he is working out with the team with a plan to return for another season.
Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer says otherwise.
“Shemar Stewart lives in Texas when he’s not in Cincinnati,” she reported. “I can confirm from a source that he is training at A&M by himself using their facilities (very common) to get ready for the upcoming NFL season. Not with the Texas A&M team.”
She is right that it is very common for rookies (and veterans) to return to their college facilities to get in shape for the NFL season. This is not a new thing.
Trying to go back would be a nightmare.
Technically speaking, Shemar Stewart does have one year of college football eligibility remaining. He chose to forgo a fourth season to turn pro. The Bengals own his rights.
If Stewart was to sit out the entire 2025 football season — meaning that he does not play at all for any team on any level — he could technically be drafted by a different NFL team next April. If he was to go back to Texas A&M, Cincinnati would still own the rights to its first-round pick at this time next year.
So what’s the point?
And not only that, a return to college would require a legal battle. Shemar Stewart would have to take this entire situation to the courts. The courts would have to grant him an injunction to let him play, which would in turn open up a really dangerous can of worms that would change the sport forever.
If Stewart can get drafted by a team he doesn’t want to play for and still return to college, what is stopping other players from doing the same? At what point does declaring for the NFL Draft become obsolete if the players who do declare don’t have to stick with their decision?
I guess I could still be wrong, but Shemar Stewart is not going to play for the Aggies in 2025.