The messy Cincinnati Bengals standoff with first-round pick Shemar Stewart continues to overshadow another problem.
It’s messy in its own right, too: Second-round pick Demetrius Knight isn’t under contract, either.
If Knight isn’t under contract for training camp, he can’t participate. And rookies report on Saturday.
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Knight, like many of the second-round picks around the NFL, remains unsigned after the Texans and Browns dished out fully guaranteed contracts to players at the very start of the round, changing how things work in Round 2.
Dominoes have started to fall in this regard as teams report, but…we’re talking about the Bengals. They have the last unsigned first-round pick for the second year in a row, too, so one can reasonably suggest Knight might take a while, too.
And that’s a big problem, considering the Bengals drafted Knight, an older rookie, to come in and start right away next to Logan Wilson. Or at least, that appears to be the plan with Germaine Pratt gone.
But we can’t know until Knight actually gets in camp and reps in Al Golden’s defense. And unless something changes quickly, the Bengals are now in the danger zone of not having him in camp, as he won’t be permitted to report and the team can’t fine an unsigned player for not participating, either.
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