The Cincinnati Bengals' offseason is somewhat representative of the disappointment that was their 2024 season as a whole. The offense carried the majority of the excitement while the defensive storylines have completely taken all the wind out of the sails.
Nobody in the Bengals fan base wanted the defense to be the reason to rain on the parade yet again, but after teh team got deals done to retain both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on big-money deals, they have completely dropped the ball defensively.
While some of this was expected, things have gotten ugly for the Bengals and star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate and last year's league leader in sacks. Hendrickson has had a very public, very disturbing contract battle with the team and is holding out of mandatory minicamp.
Recently, the Bengals made the tough call to flat-out cut linebacker Germaine Pratt, getting no value in return for him.
The Bengals fired their defensive coordinator earlier this offseason (Lou Anarumo) and brought in Al Golden to try and bring life to that unit. They invested their first-round pick in Texas A&M defensive lineman/edge rusher Shemar Stewart, who has also been holding out of the team's offseason activities, including mandatory minicamp.
Shemar Stewart gives crazy locker room interview while holding out of Bengals minicamp
Some very frank and direct comments from Shemar Stewart, and why he continues to feel he’s 100 percent right to sit out. Clearly very upset and frustrated with Bengals that he is not signed and on the field. pic.twitter.com/WawvWU8QKu
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) June 10, 2025
Within this interview, Shemar Stewart goes to bat for Trey Hendrickson and calls out the front office for not paying him what he deserves. He also says he's "100 percent" in the right on his current contract situation and blames the Bengals for basically wasting everyone's time this offseason.
Reports indicate that the Bengals are trying to put language in Stewart's rookie deal to get back guarantees in certain circumstances, and there's no deal being struck between Stewart and his agent.
The vibe between Stewart and the Bengals has been weird since he was asked why he was mad on stage at the 2025 NFL Draft, but things have progressed to an unprecedented level at this point. The things he's saying in this interview are off-putting from an unproven rookie, but given the situation with Trey Hendrickson, they reflect extremely poorly on the Bengals organization overall.
It only takes one day for the two sides to come together and figure out a deal, and that could happen at any time. But in a situation like this, with how public and messy it's gotten, you can't help but wonder if the Bengals would actually consider trading Stewart before he even signs with the team. That would also be unprecedented, but not impossible at this point.
Interviews like this might prompt an organization to feel like they drafted the wrong person for their franchise entirely, and make a move no one has ever really seen before.