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Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor recently made it clear he’d like the team to re-sign free agents William Jackson and Carl Lawson.
Now defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has thrown his weight behind the same idea. While he admits anything can happen on the open market, the vibe about the offseason seems to be clear.
“I hope so,” Anarumo said, according to The Athletic’s Jay Morrison. “I had good exit interviews with both guys. But again, this is free agency, and you never know what happens.”
Interestingly, Anarumo later made sure to point out the eventual debut of Trae Waynes and stressed cornerback and edge rusher are priorities no matter what happens:
“I think they’re equally important for us. We’re in a situation where I think we can upgrade both of those positions. Certainly we want to finally get (2020 free-agent addition) Trae Waynes out there, see what we can do and hopefully things work out with Will (Jackson) and Carl Lawson. To us, they’re both going to be impactful positions that we add guys to this year.”
As we often say around here, it will be easier for the Bengals to retain Jackson and Lawson and add around them instead of trying to replace both, then adding around the replacements. There’s also the argument that guys familiar with the scheme and staff will better produce right away compared to new arrivals.
Lawson is especially important after standing as one of the best in the NFL at what he does last season. Given the sour state of corner depth in recent years, Jackson is right there in importance too.
Whether the Bengals front office will pay up if both slip to market and get competitive offers remains to be seen, but prominent coaches continue to posture like they want both of the team’s top free agents back.
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