Bengals coach Marvin Lewis is under contract for next year, and he won’t be voluntarily walking away from it.
In response to a report (or whatever) from former Washington tight end and current team employee Chris Cooley that Lewis is planning to retire, Ed Werder of ESPN reports that Lewis will not be leaving on his own.
The situation suggests a game of contractual chicken, with owner Mike Brown potentially inclined to move on from Lewis but not inclined to pay him not to coach the team in 2017. So Brown hopes Lewis will walk away on his own, forfeiting his right to be paid next year.
As PFT explained it last month, it’s believed Lewis hopes to coach long enough to allow his son, Marcus, to establish a foothold in the profession. Marcus Lewis, who currently serves as a defensive assistant/quality control for the Bengals, is in his third year with the team.
Mike Brown is notoriously careful with money, which makes a parting of the ways after the 2016 season less likely, since he’d have to pay Lewis not to be the coach and pay someone else to handle the job. It also makes local chatter of Lewis leaving on his own somewhat understandable, even if it’s simply the product of wishful thinking.