Marvin Lewis is about to officially become a lame duck. But you won’t hear him quacking about it.
The Bengals coach is about to enter the final season of his contract with no extension in sight, and he said he’s fine with that.
“That doesn’t affect anything,” Lewis told Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com. “I’ve coached here for 15 seasons. . . . The relationship you have with the team and the organization is a two-way street. That’s been the thing, I’ve been the one to not want to move a lot. That’s not been a big deal to me. Because we’ve been able to build something. . . .
"[Owner Mike Brown] and I have a great working relationship. Sometimes you don’t want to start that over again, but sometimes you need to. And I’m prepared to do that. It doesn’t affect me one way or another.”
Lewis has been with the Bengals since 2003, and has been rather consistent (118-103-3). He’s made the playoffs seven of his 14 years, and had a streak of five straight playoff appearances snapped last year. But he also hasn’t won a playoff game (and the team as a whole hasn’t since after the 1990 season).
The last time he entered a year without future guarantees was 2010, and he eventually got a two-year extension and followed with a series of one-year extensions which have gotten him to his point. He’s downplayed the situation consistently this offseason, and seems to be approaching this one with a shrug.
“It’s part of what this business is,” Lewis said. “Everybody wants to coach on a one-year contract. It’s a two-way street.
“Last time, we didn’t come to an agreement. And we didn’t really come to an agreement this time. And that’s fine. It doesn’t bother me one way or another. They’ve got to do what they feel is best for their team and the organization, and my job right now is to coach the football team and we’ll go from there.”
Only Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been in his current job longer, and Lewis has put up good results in what hasn’t always been the easiest place to. If he became a free agent, he’d likely get another head coaching job, which might be part of the reason he’s so relaxed about the situation.