With Marvin Lewis all but out the door in Cincinnati, it appears that the Bengals are already targeting potential replacements for their soon-to-be-gone head coach.
Although Hue Jackson's name has already been floated as a possible candidate to replace Lewis, it seems that he's not the only ex-Bengals assistant that the team might be targeting. According to NFL.com, the "preferred candidate" for the Bengals is actually Redskins coach Jay Gruden and the team plans to go after him if he becomes available.
Of course, the four key words there are "if he becomes available" because there's no guarantee that Gruden will be looking for a job at the end of the season. The Redskins coach just signed a two-year extension with the team in March that's set to keep him in Washington through the end of the 2020 season.
The extension was a big deal because it marked the first time in Daniel Snyder's 18 years of ownership that he actually extended a coach's contract. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean that Snyder plans on keeping Gruden around. The Redskins owner has a history of dumping his coaches after only four seasons, just ask Mike Shanahan about that. Former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs also lasted only four seasons because he decided to retire after the 2007 season.
No coach has ever made it to his fifth season under Snyder, and 2018 would be Gruden's fifth season with the team. If the Redskins finish at 7-9 or 6-10, it's not crazy to think that Snyder would pull the trigger and dump Gruden.
Of course, if the Bengals want Gruden bad enough, they might not even have to wait for him to get fired. The Bengals could also try to land him in trade, which Snyder could be open to if he was planning on firing him anyway.
By the way, it you're wondering why the Bengals would go after Gruden or Jackson, it's because the Bengals love hiring a familiar face. When Lewis was hired in 2003, he became the first Bengals coach since 1980 -- and just the second in team history -- who was hired without having any prior ties to the organization.
If Bengals owner Mike Brown is planning on bringing back a familiar face, both Gruden and Jackson fit the bill. One of the biggest question marks in Cincinnati right now is what to do with Andy Dalton. The Bengals can get out of his contract with minimal cost after the 2017 season, which means a new coach could potentially go after a new quarterback. However, it seems like the Bengals want to keep Dalton around, which is they would be going after Jackson and Gruden. Both coaches have a long history of success with the Bengals quarterback.
On Gruden's end, he was the Bengals' offensive coordinator from 2011 to 2013 and is also the reason why Dalton is even on the team. Back in 2011, Brown had been thinking about selecting Colin Kaepernick in the NFL Draft, but Gruden was able to talk him into taking Dalton.
Under Gruden's tutelage, Dalton got progressively better each season they were together and the Bengals made the playoffs in all three years.
For a look at a few other names the Bengals could target, be sure to click here and check out our list of seven candidates who could replace Lewis.
