If you want hassle-free contract negotiations, it’s best to avoid the Cincinnati Bengals.
After finally securing long-term deals for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, it looked as if the franchise was turning a corner.
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With Joe Burrow tied down under center, the core of a potent offense is locked down.
But Trey Hendrickson is yet to report after talks over extending the NFL’s sack leader hit a wall.
To make matters worse, first-round pick Shemar Stewart hasn’t been seen at OTAs as the team haggles over the fine print of his contract.
The rookie wage scale — introduced in 2011 — is supposed to be a team-friendly way to lock down prospects with minimal fuss, but billionaire Bengals owner Mike Brown is notorious for his love of negotiating to the bitter end.
Frustrated Cincinnati fans have seen this all before.
In 1999, long before rookie contracts were pretty much standardized, No.3 pick Akili Smith held out for 27 days in order to secure the best possible deal.
The Cleveland Browns selected fellow passer Tim Couch with the first overall pick — one of a long line of busts for the franchise at the position.
Donovan McNabb went to the Philadelphia Eagles next, going on to enjoy a brilliant career that saw him earn six Pro-Bowl nods.
The Bengals could have avoided disaster as the New Orleans Saints offered a ridiculous haul of nine picks, including two first-rounders, to move up from No.12 and select running back Ricky Williams.
They declined and the Saints ended up swapping with the Washington Commanders to get their man at No.5.
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Hall of Famers Edgerrin James and Champ Bailey were still on the board, as was quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
But Cincinnati bosses had their hearts set on Oregon Duck Smith, despite their head coach Bruce Coslet and offensive coordinator Kenny Anderson having major concerns.
“There were a whole bunch of [quarterbacks] that came out that year – and by far Akili was at the bottom of our list,” head coach Bruce Coslet told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
“I can still remember the coach, I want to say his name was Mike [Bellotti], his coach in college, I can still remember Kenny Anderson and I sitting in his office and we flat asked him, ‘Why did Akili only play one year?’
“And (Bellotti) said the reason is that I couldn’t trust him. Well, that was a big red flag for me. Then we drafted him anyway.”
A bad start got even worse as Smith’s agent Leigh Steinberg entered protracted talks and the passer missed almost a month of valuable reps.
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“I was the one that ended up suffering for it,” Smith later recalled.
Smith ultimately signed a deal worth up to $56 million but only including $10.8 million in guarantees.
He bet on himself and ultimately went bust.
Smith would have been due a $4 million bonus if he threw for over 1,600 yards as a rookie but was benched after 11 games with only 1,253 on the clock.
“It was just a bad deal,” Smith said. “I didn’t make it no better with the off the field shenanigans. It just didn’t work out in Cincinnati.”
Smith gained a reputation for partying too hard off the field and was released in 2002, having earned $12 million.
After failing to land roles with the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had short stints on the Frankfurt Galaxy in Germany and Calgary Stampeders north of the border before retiring in 2007.
“When you look back on it, on your career or anything that you’ve been through, and you know that it was you that did something in the offseason and you know that the organization was not being ran right at the time as well, when you combine the two, after a while you understand that hey, you can be at peace with it,” said Smith.
“You screwed up in the offseason and you were partying too much and then at the time the organization wasn’t being ran correctly, so hey, I‘m finally at peace with it. It is what it is.”
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Smith later moved into coaching and after establishing himself as a legend at Oregon before his NFL stint, will hope to give the school another boost. His son Akilli Smith Jr. committed in 2024.
The freshman quarterback is a 6ft 5in, 220lb pocket passer with a big arm and some rushing upside.
Should he make the NFL, he should pay close attention to the lessons his dad learned the hard way.
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