What is a training-camp roster bonus? Report explains Shemar Stewart's rookie contract holdup with Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick Shemar Stewart declined to participate in rookie minicamp as he did not sign the rookie contract offered to him by the club.

Stewart was present for the practice session featuring the vast majority of his new rookie teammates, but he watched the drills from the sidelines along with unsigned second-round pick Demetrius Knight Jr.

One report claims to know why Stewart didn't put pen-to-paper prior to last Friday's minicamp session, and it has to do with money in the future.

Shemar Stewart's contract situation boils down to his training-camp roster bonus

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Stewart declined the Bengals' offer due to his training-camp roster bonus. The percentage value of the bonus relative to the total value of the contract does not match or exceed the figures Dallas Turner, the 17th overall pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, signed for last year.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bengals tried to get Stewart signed. As we understand it, the talks bogged down regarding the percentage of compensation in future years to be paid as a training-camp roster bonus. The training-camp roster bonus has become a device for putting a sizable chunk of the player’s pay in his pockets in future years, early in the season. In this case, the numbers offered by the Bengals reflected a lower percentage than the 17th overall pick received in 2024. - Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio

Every cent of a first-round pick's contract is fully guaranteed, but not all of that guaranteed money gets paid to the player immediately. Players receive a signing bonus which puts money in his pockets in the first year. In future years, more money is paid to the player near the start of each training camp he's under contract for via a roster bonus.

This is the money the Bengals, per Florio, are short on in their offer, and it's not very much money in the grand scheme of things.

Turner's contract is the precedent at hand. He agreed to a $3,109,049 roster bonus that gets paid to him in three increments. $551,676 will be paid to him during this year's training camp, $1,153,351 will be paid to him during training camp in 2026, and another $1,404,022 in 2027. All of it is guaranteed at signing, but the cash does not officially get paid until the agreed upon dates in those years.

Stewart's offer may feature figures lower than those, or the total roster bonus is smaller relative to the total value of the deal. Turner's contract is worth $15,766,862, making his roster bonus roughly 19.71% of the deal.

Why the Bengals may be negotiating this way

Stewart and his camp may want the deal Turner received last year with values adjusted to this year's salary cap, but the Bengals may want him to take a deal reminiscent of the one Amarius Mims signed last year.

Mims, Cincinnati's first-round pick in 2024, notably didn't sign his rookie contract until after Turner did. This happened mere days before training camp in late July, but Mims did not straight up follow Turner's lead in terms of his training-camp roster bonus. 

The difference is in the last year of their contracts. Mims agreed to a smaller roster bonus in 2027 compared to his 2026 amount in exchange for an increase in base salary that year.

Turner, being drafted one spot ahead of Mims, rightfully has the larger contract and larger bonuses ($8.2 million signing bonus compared to Mims' $7.9 million). The only difference is the Vikings gave him an increase in bonus money in 2027, while the Bengals agreed to pay Mims more during that season and less up front before it begins.

This could be the structure Cincinnati wants Stewart to take, following precedent of last year's first-round pick drafted one spot behind him. The promise of more guaranteed money to be earned during his fourth season instead of during training camp.

Stewart, per Florio's reporting, wants the deal Turner signed. Now we're here. 

This can all be resolved very quickly. The Bengals would simply need to increase the roster bonus payout to Stewart and decrease his base salary from that year. This would mean they'd spend a hundreds of thousands of dollars more in August instead of September through December, but they'll be able to manage. This is a franchise worth BILLIONS with a B. 

Cincinnati resumes offseason workouts this week, with or without Stewart.