Trey Hendrickson isn't the only Cincinnati Bengals player who is frustrated over his contract situation.
While he is in a very different situation, Stewart is also having contract issues with the team. Stewart has yet to sign his rookie deal this offseason, and as a result he didn't fully take part in OTAs.
Now, with mandatory minicamp starting on Tuesday, Stewart is still not on the field as his deal continues to get sorted out. The rookie did not mince words about his disappointment with the situation.
"Very bad," Stewart said, per the Cincinnati Inquirer's Kelsey Conway. "I mean, I've been (playing football) for most of my whole life, and then all of a sudden it's gone over something very simple to fix, and it's kind of disappointing."
The issue at hand, according to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, is the training camp roster bonuses in Stewart's deal. What the Bengals are offering is less than what the 2024 17th overall pick received.
It isn't clear why the Bengals are taking this approach, but it's baffling to say the least. After all, there is already a precedent set and this seems like a very minor thing to get caught up over, especially with a first-round pick.
Of course, it's not good for a rookie to be missing so much practice time in their first offseason, and that isn't lost on Stewart.
"It's very important (to be practicing)," Stewart said. "You've gotta get your body somewhat prepared to play football, especially me coming from college to the NFL."
"I thought I'd be on the field by now," Stewart added.
It is just unfathomable how inept the Bengals are in some contract situations.
Granted, they did take care of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but the way they have handled both the Stewart and Hendrickson situations have been abysmal.
It's almost as if the Bengals didn't learn their lesson from last season, when their defense completely derailed the campaign.
Not only are the Bengals staring at the chance that Hendrickson isn't on the team in 2025, their top rookie edge rusher who they need badly is missing precious development time over a ridiculous contract situation.