The Cincinnati Bengals will have to wait a little longer to get their 2025 NFL Draft picks, Shemar Stewart and Demetrius Knight Jr., on the training field, with their rookie contracts still unsigned

Cincinnati Bengals 2025 first-round NFL Draft pick Shemar Stewart is sitting out rookie minicamp until his contract is signed.

Stewart, 21, who suffered an injury setback at the NFL Combine, was selected 17th overall and is expected to impact the Bengals’ defensive line immediately. Still, he’s waiting for unresolved contract details to be ironed out before suiting up and getting involved as part of the Bengals’ new-look team.

Stewart is the latest chess piece in the Bengals’ rebuild after securing the long-term futures of offense superstars Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins. The details are expected to be finalized, and Stewart revealed he could be on the training field on Monday.

He addressed the situation in the locker room. “I just decided not to sign those papers,” Stewart said. “I hate being on the sideline looking at everybody else do work.”

Stewart isn’t the only rookie holding out, either. Second-rounder Demetrius Knight Jr. has also yet to put pen to paper on his rookie contract and is finalizing terms with the Bengals. Bengals coach Zac Taylor also addressed the holdup with Stewart and Knight Jr.

“They’re just working through their contracts right now,” Taylor said after workouts. The Bengals drafted back-to-back defensive players in Stewart and linebacker Knight Jr., signaling the franchise’s stance on addressing its weak areas.

Burrow’s offense was among the most electric and high-scoring in the NFL last season, but it wasn’t enough to help the Bengals into the playoffs. Their defensive fragility hindered their progress. Quarterback Burrow called on the franchise to make massive changes.

“We need to change a lot of things this year. We haven’t been good enough to win games,” Burrow said last December.

“We’ll learn a lot about who we have in the locker room, the guys we can count on going forward and guys that we can’t,” he added. “I think the next five weeks are gonna say a lot about who we can count on and who we can’t.”

Heading into the NFL Draft, Burrow also made the Bengals’ objectives clear. “We need our young guys to come on,” Burrow said. “We need to draft well. We need guys to come in and produce immediately.

“We don’t have time to wait around. And I think we have the young guys that are capable of going into an offseason training the way that they need to take advantage of all the opportunities that they can and come out and play well early.”