The Buffalo Bills are entering the 2025 season with a renewed sense of hope. After coming up short in the AFC Championship Game last year, losing to the Kansas City Chiefs once again, the front office has spent the offseason working on shoring up their roster, and you can make an argument that, on paper, this is their best team to date during the Josh Allen era.
There’s no such thing as a perfect team, though, and while the Bills have already made the majority of their moves, they may not be done just yet. One situation that the Bills and every other team in the league are keeping tabs on involves the Cincinnati Bengals and their 2025 first-round pick, Shemar Stewart. With tensions continuing to boil over between those two parties, let’s look at a trade pitch that would send Stewart to Buffalo.
Bills’ Shemar Stewart Trade Pitch
Bills get: Shemar Stewart
Bengals get: 2026 first-round pick
With the No. 17 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, the Bengals selected Stewart, a star defensive lineman out of Texas A&M. The selection made a lot of sense, as Stewart is a versatile defender who can defend against the run and pass. Beyond that, the team was dealing with contract drama involving superstar pass rusher Trey Hendrickson, so grabbing Stewart gave them a bit of insurance in case things went south.
Things have since gone south for the Bengals, just not in the way they expected. Stewart has refused to sign his rookie contract, as Cincinnati tried to sneak a clause into his deal that would void all the guarantees in his deal if he were to get in trouble off the field. The result has seen Stewart bad mouth the front office publicly on multiple occasions, and he ended up leaving mandatory minicamp early due to his contract situation.
You can bet that all 31 other teams across the league are keeping tabs on Stewart. With Hendrickson still needing a big-money contract, there’s a chance that Stewart never suits up for Cincinnati. He’s threatened to hold out for the entire 2025 campaign, and potentially even re-enter the 2026 draft in hopes of landing with another team.
With all that in mind, the Bengals have a couple options, one of which involves trading Stewart. If the front office cannot find common ground with him on his contract, they could opt to trade him, rather than potentially lose him for nothing. Considering they just used a first-round pick on him, they would likely be willing to accept Buffalo’s 2026 first-round pick, as it would give them another shot to find cheap, young talent after striking out on Stewart.
Would Bills, Bengals Be Interested in This Shemar Stewart Trade?
GettyCincinnati Bengals edge Shemar Stewart
In concept, this trade would give the Bengals what they are looking for if they want to trade Stewart. But would they accept this offer from one of their top rivals in the AFC? It would certainly be a tough pill to swallow, but if there are no other options on the table, it may be the best path forward. However, in an ideal world, they probably would rather send Stewart to a team they are unlikely to square off against in the postseason.
On the other side of the deal, the Bills would probably pull this trigger on this deal immediately. Not only would they weaken the Bengals, but they would also add to a defensive line that was arguably their biggest flaw last season. There’s still a long way to go before Stewart potentially gets traded, but if Cincinnati decides to move on from him, Buffalo would make sense as a landing spot for him.
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