But it is. They opted to suddenly change their contract language regarding the voiding of guarantees. And it wasn’t a 2025 change; they used the old language in the new contracts signed by receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Then, when they drafted Stewart, it was time to change the language.

Stewart left Cincinnati's minicamp in June over a dispute with a new clause about conduct, and he has yet to sign a contract with the team.

While the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones showed his whole [expletive] over not wanting to pay his high-profile employees money that they've earned, the Cincinnati Bengals' Mike Brown was busy discussing two pertinent contract situations hanging over the ostensible Super Bowl contender like a wrinkled dress shirt with an iron mark conspicuously burned into one of the sleeves.