Bengals Extend Head Coach Marvin Lewis Through 2016

Should we just start calling it Mike Brown's "pay-as-you-go plan"?

The Cincinnati Bengals have extended the contract by one year for head coach Marvin Lewis, yet again.

Interestingly enough, this was said to be a make-or-break year for the long-time head coach and his quarterback, Andy Dalton, after four straight trips to the playoffs netting zero wins and an 0-6 postseason record during Lewis' Bengals tenure. A little over a year ago, the Bengals did the same thing they did today and added an additional year to Lewis' contract, which was set to expire after the 2014 season.

When speaking with Bengals.com editor Geoff Hobson last month, owner Mike Brown seemed non-committal to extending Lewis before the 2015 season began. "I think Marvin has done a fine job with us," Brown said. "He’s been with us for a long time now. We have a good relationship. I hope that relationship goes forward into the future. But we aren't at the future yet. We don’t have to make this decision until after this year. He doesn't have to make this decision until next year. Right now he’s under contract and he’s fulfilling it as we would expect and he knows he should."

There was a little different tune from both Lewis and Brown, per a statement by both through the team after the announcement on Wednesday:

"We have worked together with Marvin for many years, things are going well for the team, and Marvin deserves credit for that," said Bengals president Mike Brown. "The extension reflects our confidence in him and how things look to us as we move forward. We are happy to have reached this agreement."

"I appreciate the commitment by management to the direction of our team," Lewis said. "It’s gratifying to our coaching staff and to me personally. The stakes get higher each and every year, and the return of our players this week for the start of offseason work has stoked our fires. I’m excited to continue our pursuit of greatness and to be World Champions."

In January, Lewis publicly preached "change", and had stated that it was Brown leading the charge of that mandate. Status quo was not going to be accepted this offseason and the Bengals were going to have an active, fruitful and all-around different offseason. To date, they've brought back a number of veterans who had previously been on the team's roster and have extended the contract of the NFL's second-longest currently tenured head coach with his respective team (Bill Belichick is the leader there).