Bengals

Offense

The new deal extends his original contract by a year and raises his salary to $2 million. Lewis needs his current gigantic defensive rookie class to come through for him.

Jackson had to settle for a low-level defensive assistant job after essentially being black-balled following a year-ending press conference in Oakland that was negatively perceived around the NFL. A former receivers coach in Cincinnati, Jackson has a background with Marvin Lewis. He may attempt to reenter the coordinator ranks next offseason. His “market” appeal was shot for 2012.

In a smart move, the Bengals have essentially installed Jackson as coordinator-in-waiting as well as a sounding board for coach Marvin Lewis. Gruden recently inked a three-year, $3.6 million extension, but there’s concern that he could fly the coop next offseason after turning down serious interest from the Jaguars and Colts in January.

Teams could have contacted Gruden leading up to the Wild Card round, but he insists no one did despite one NFL Network report that Gruden was the favorite for the Jaguars’ job. If Gruden returns to Cincinnati in 2012, it would be great news for Andy Dalton entering his first full offseason in the same system.

“I’m new to this. If I’d been in the league 25 years, I would have interviewed,” Gruden said. “I just wanted to put it to bed and move on with what we’ve got going here. I was sick of reading tweets I knew nothing about.” A coach in a league where a coordinator’s stock can explode or crash in only a matter of weeks, Gruden is tempting fate by staying put, but should remain on the head-coaching radar as long as the Bengals’ young offense stays on the right track in 2012.

We like the news for Andy Dalton, who will enter his second NFL season in the same offensive system. The Rams recently reached out to Gruden as a potential fallback option if they don’t land Jeff Fisher. He’s unwilling to interview. Gruden had also been rumored as a candidate in Jacksonville. Gruden interestingly took a recent veiled shot at impending free agent Cedric Benson for pouting on the sideline while Bernard Scott was in. The Bengals may be on the prowl for a new feature back this offseason.

Gruden coached the AFL’s Orlando Predators and UFL’s Florida Tuskers before landing in Cincinnati, so he may have leaked the news to a reporter there. The extension reportedly doubles his original salary. Honorably, Gruden has turned down all head-coaching interview offers to remain as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, and this is how the organization has repaid him.

Gruden turned down interview requests last year before signing a three-year extension with the Bengals. “I got called to interview for these jobs. I figure I better say yes or they’ll quit asking me,” explained Gruden. “I also know in this business your welcome mat doesn’t last forever and I’m sure mine has probably been kicked off the doorstep.” Gruden does have interest in eventually leading his own team, but suggested the timing isn’t right just yet.

One of the league’s most aggressive and creative play-callers, it’s baffling that Jackson will be limited to position coach duties for the second consecutive year in 2013, but at least he’ll be on the right side of the ball. Jackson should get another chance to lead an offense sooner rather than later, but it’s clear his brash ways in Oakland didn’t earn him many friends around the league.

They also extended the deals of his assistants through 2006. Lewis is 16-16 in two seasons as a head coach. The Bengals were 26-70 the six years before he arrived.