Tag: Carl Lawson

Lou Anarumo wants Bengals to bring back free agents Carl Lawson, William Jackson

Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo spoke on the topic of pending free agents.

[jwplayer 299Bej6w]

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.

[listicle id=40512]

Zac Taylor says Bengals want free agents William Jackson and Carl Lawson back

The Cincinnati Bengals have two major free agents to think about this offseason.

[jwplayer 299Bej6w]

William Jackson and Carl Lawson appear to be keys for the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason before they head to free agency.

That’s not just based on their high quality of play, either.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor sat down with The Athletic’s Jay Morrison and had an interesting back-and-forth about Jackson and Lawson:

Do you think it’s possible to re-sign William Jackson and Carl Lawson?

Those are two guys we think highly of, and we want them to be Bengals for certain.

So it’s not an either/or thing? Is there a path to sign both?

Yeah. I think you have to look at the whole scope of things and hopefully, we can work it all out.

Now, this could just be coach-speak. But the Bengals do have about $35.7 million in free cap space and that’s before six potential players they could cut to free up more space.

On paper, the Bengals could afford to sign both and still target a top-tier offensive lineman in free agency, largely because they have the luxury of rostering Joe Burrow on a cheap rookie contract right now.

Jackson and Lawson are vital to what the Bengals want to do. They’ve both been named top free agents at their respective positions and last year Lawson was one of the best in the NFL at what he does.

It takes two parties to make a re-signing happen, but the Bengals would seemingly prefer to build around these two, not replace them and then rebuild.

[listicle id=40470]

All-Auburn Defensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

From Derrick Brown to Deshaun Davis to Carlton Davis, Auburn saw a lot of talent at all three levels of defense during the Gus Malzahn era.

Auburn has a historic reputation for putting out great, hard-nosed defensive players and that didn’t change during the Gus Malzahn era.

Derrick Brown and company were monsters in the trenches for the Tigers during the past eight seasons while Deshaun Davis and others controlled the middle of the field. When a team tried to pass on Auburn, defensive backs such as Carlton Davis and Daniel Thomas were there to shut the air game down.

Yet who was the best of the best during Malzahn’s eight-year span for the Tigers on defense under coordinators Ellis Johnson and Kevin Steele? We name our All-Auburn Defensive Team during the Malzahn era along with a second string for each position.

*We decided upon a 4-3 scheme for this team as Auburn has had so much talent upfront to leave anyone off.

All-Auburn Offensive Team during Gus Malzahn era

Carl Lawson slips out of questions about his future with Bengals, free agency

Cincinnati Bengals star Carl Lawson isn’t ready to talk about the future.

Cincinnati Bengals pass rusher Carl Lawson isn’t interested in talking about free agency or the future right now.

Lawson, set to be a free agent this offseason, told reporters on Wednesday that he won’t offer much in the way of answers to questions about his playing future.

The star defensive end told ESPN’s Ben Baby he “didn’t want to talk about anything offseason-wise.”

This wasn’t the typical question-ducking other players might throw out though. Lawson revealed he’s very superstitious and that he truly hasn’t thought about the offseason.

Interestingly, he revealed one of his three major focuses he doesn’t want to jinx now was merely getting through the season healthy for once.

Still, it’s hard not to think about what might be next for Lawson and the Bengals. He’s been the only reliable pass-rusher all season and needing to replace him — instead of adding big chips around him to help him — would be tough to do. But the market is bound to pay him like one of the top pass-rushers in football.

Ask Lawson though, he’s letting everyone else do the talking about it:

 

[listicle id=39991]

How every former Tiger performed in NFL Week 10

Cam Newton put together one of his best performances of the season and Darius Slayton had another big game for the New York Giants.

After a quiet Week 9 several former Auburn players had better performances in Week 10.

Daniel Thomas made his first career start for the Jacksonville Jagurs and made the most of his opportunity. Darius Slayton and Daniel Jones were able to get back on the same page against the Eagles.

Here’s a look at how every former Tiger performed in NFL Week 10 action.