Bengals: Lewis to Ravens?

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Lewis to Ravens?

Baltimore Sun NFL columnist Mike Preston heard rumblings and wrote today that the Ravens might consider trading draft picks to the Bengals in order to hire Marvin Lewis as their head coach to replace the fired Brian Billick.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-sp.preston09jan09,0,234842.column

Lewis, of course, the Bengals head coach for five seasons, came to national prominence as coordinator of the Ravens' record-setting, Super Bowl-winning defense in 2000.

Lewis, today, through Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan, had little to say: "It's not something for me to respond to. Just a writer making a speculative point."

41 Comments:

at 1/09/2008 6:35 PM

Anonymous said...

Fine with me. Bengals should then hire Rex Ryan as coach. LOL BTW Carolina not letting Tim lewis a DB coach interview for DEF CO job (an upgrade) is low class in my view. Why hold someone back in any career from upgrading their position. If Lewis is so great. Carolina should give him DEF CO job or a raise.

at 1/09/2008 8:23 PM

Anonymous said...

I could see giving maybe a 2nd or a 3rd round pick and cash to Baltimore for them to take Marvin Lewis. But if the Bengals have to give up a first round pick to Baltimore for them to take Lewis, well, that's too much. We'd have to keep him.

at 1/09/2008 8:38 PM

Anonymous said...

The Bengals would get beat in a tug-of-war over Marvin in a second. Also, they would let him go as Michael Brown would not have anyone who wants anything to do with the former Browns.

The most read sports writer in Baltimore is obviously buddies with Ozzie Newsome, the GM with the Ravens. It looks like a trial balloon from where we stand.

Marvin was despatare for a shot, he's loved in Baltimore and currently in bengalaze. At the end of the day the Vegas line has him leaving and the team losing regardless of who coaches.

Don't forget the record under this owner. Football he may have heard daddy speak about - winning (since the advent of free agency), he doesn't have a clue.

If he was in LA he would have been run out years ago...this city is TOO loyal.

at 1/09/2008 8:48 PM

Anonymous said...

I'll give them Lewis and then sign Bill Cower. Boomer made the Bengal signing of Cower his 08 prediction...maybe he knows something.

at 1/09/2008 9:55 PM

Anonymous said...

Mike Preston is not the most read writer in Baltimore but he's perhaps the dumbest. Always has been. He says a lot of stupid things in his columns, usually without foundation or logic.

Besides, if he was so good, why did the The Sun hire Rick Maese AND David Steele to go above Preston and demote him to the piddly stuff?

Well, because Maese and Steele are really, really good.

This Marvin idea was just Preston trying to make noise. He's a renowned homer.

at 1/10/2008 3:44 AM

Anonymous said...

A true blooded Bengals fan know that having Cowher as a coach would be like getting a blood transfusion needing B- and getting A+. It wont work... I don't care... I could not look at Cowher as a coach. No disrespect to him, but I just hate the Steelers. That big ole chin is a constant reminder of us getting knocked out of the playoffs with the Carson injury. I can't get past it. I don't even think he would make a difference anyway. I'm sure Karma would allow Marvin to do great at Baltimore, thats just the luck we Bengals fans have. Remember Corey Dillon? Left for the Pats and got himself a ring.

at 1/10/2008 8:18 AM

Anonymous said...

Let him go,he ani't that good,he's hurt us more then he's help the team. pete F.

at 1/10/2008 8:24 AM

Anonymous said...

Big Nate-Dawg from the DYT said..."Remember Corey Dillon? Left for the Pats and got himself a ring."

No disrespect to Dillon, of course, but he was fortunate to go to an organization that had a team in place to get that ring. Same might be true of the Ravens if Lewis were to go. Not gonna happen here. Even the best seem to diminish here since there is no organization committed to building a winner from the front office to the field.

at 1/10/2008 8:35 AM

Anonymous said...

I hope Lewis moves. He is a good coach and has done all he can here. The Bungals have gone from total crap to fair. We need to move up to good and then great. We need a great coach and Lewis is not the man. Baltimore can have him.

at 1/10/2008 8:52 AM

Anonymous said...

These posts make me laugh...like Bill Cowher would ever come to a total loser organization like the Bungles. Lewis WAS a good coach when he first came here, but he has been Bungalized just like the rest. Of course "the rest" were hack internally hired loyalists that just got the job because Mikey Boy liked them (nevermind their coaching abilities). I cannot believe people in this city still support this man and his circa 1960's-run business. Wake up for god's sake....leave these losers behind, at least until his genes are not running this team anymore. It's not the coaches, it's not the players, it's not bad luck....it's the fact that one clueless idiot has been running this team for the past 17 years. And in those 17 years....1 winning season. They are by far the worst organization in all of sports, and all the fans of them are just enablers to their woeful cause....

at 1/10/2008 8:55 AM

Unknown said...

anon, 8:23, please never speak again about football. You know nothing. The Bengals would cash and/or a draft compensation for giving up Marvin, not have to give the Ravens anything.

Although, if we could unburden ourselves of a very lousy head coach for some cash, I would. I'd take a case of crab cakes from the Ravens for Lewis.

And for the guy who posted how he couldn't handle Cowher on the sidelines for the Bengals. What are you crazy? Look nobody hates the Steelers more than me (trust me). I hated Cowher. But the man wins and is EXACTLY what this team needs. Hard nose, discipline, no nonsense and a winning attitude. Why wouldn't you want that? I doubt Cowher would want to come here though, although maybe Boomer does know something.

at 1/10/2008 9:06 AM

Anonymous said...

By Marvin have fun in Baltimore.

at 1/10/2008 9:10 AM

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks this is even a remote possibility has not been paying attention the last 20+ years. Do you reaaly think Mikey would make a move like this?

Robert Young
Milford

at 1/10/2008 9:12 AM

Anonymous said...

Brian Kelly to coach Bengals because he would work cheap....Kerry Combs wold then take over UC's program.

at 1/10/2008 9:19 AM

Anonymous said...

How about Lewis for Ozzie Newsome?

at 1/10/2008 9:44 AM

Anonymous said...

This is just complete speculation with no supporting evidence whatsoever.

Another rumor is that Baltimore is willing to give up Ed Reed, Ray Lewis and Willis McGahee for Marvin Lewis and an apple.

at 1/10/2008 10:13 AM

Anonymous said...

Hiring Marvin Lewis was the best decision Mike Brown has made in the last 15 years. Firing him, or letting him go, would be the second. Lewis' time has come and gone. He made Cincy attractive, from a free agency standpoint, and brought a winning attitude to go along with his Super Bowl ring. But his lack of guts (remember that FG v. Pitt), and mixed messages still have me fuming. How do you sit back and watch the media scapegoat Chad Johnson, of all people? Chad helped Marvin turn things around when the coach first came to Cincy. If anything, Lewis owes Johnson an apology. It is clear that Marvin is soft. Sad for Bresnahan and his family? Are you kidding? All NFL coaches make great money, not to mention that the NFL is a revolving door for them. Lewis could have said nothing, or he could have stated fact: the Bengals defense got worse with time. His firing was not a choice, it was a necessity.

at 1/10/2008 10:26 AM

Anonymous said...

Cowher coaching the Bengals is as likely as the Colts trading Peyton Manning. Cowher hates the team, the city and Mike Brown. If he goes anywhere, watch for developments in Miami.

at 1/10/2008 10:37 AM

Anonymous said...

First, all the comments about getting Cowher are ridiculous. He wouldn't come here and the fans wouldn't want him here. Secondly, if this is going to happen we need to move quickly so we can get Pete Carroll from USC before someone else gets him. Can you imigine how happy Carson, Chad, TJ and company would be to play under Carroll? Who Dey

at 1/10/2008 10:56 AM

Anonymous said...

Take him!!

at 1/10/2008 11:50 AM

Anonymous said...

While rumors such as these make it interesting to read Bengals news again, the idea that Lewis would be allowed to leave or that Baltimore would be willing to pay the price required to obtain his services is obsurd. To trade your head coach to a division rival is dumb. Unless you're getting something in return--like a first round draft pick. Which Baltimore wouldn't do in a million years.

at 1/10/2008 11:55 AM

Anonymous said...

Why bother with all this coaching stuff.. Bungles haven't had proper coaching in 17yrs.. why change now?

at 1/10/2008 12:23 PM

Anonymous said...

The Ravens don't even have Lewis as one of their top choices. I bet their top three are Rex Ryan, Marty Schottenheimer, or Jim Schwartz.

Cowher will not coach anywhere next year. Certainly not Cincinnati or Baltimore.

at 1/10/2008 12:30 PM

Anonymous said...

It won't make any difference one way or the other. Everyone gets "Bengalized" sooner or later. As long as the ownership is what it is, Cincinnati will never field a winner. I just hate to see good players' careers diminished because of it.

at 1/10/2008 1:00 PM

Anonymous said...

If the Bengals can even get a waterboy and a roll of tape for Marvin Lewis, they should take it. I keep hearing how the reason this team did so poorly was because of injuries. I won't even discuss the fact that the Colts lost no less than 17 starters at one point or another this season and they finished with 13 wins or how they lost 6 starters in the Denver game, won it and came back to beat the Titans the next week. He has lost respect from the players and the fans. If they can ship him off to Baltimore and get something in return, this team will come out ahead.....By the way, Cower will either take the Redskins job this year or wait for the Carolina job to open up. He isn't coming here to work for M.B. - joe in erlanger

at 1/10/2008 2:08 PM

REddlegg in Colorado said...

M.B is a Joke.That'a all i got to say!Call me a complainer, I do not care,He's the worst owner in sports.Bottomline.If he really wanted to win he would spend like the other owners that want to win.When You sell out that many games in a row ,merchadise sales have rocketed since 03', & you still put out a pretender team.That's carpetbagging at it's finest!!!

Thanks MB for using me,my family,& my fellow hometown people for your profit!!!(Like me ,are just a bunch of wet rags)Thanks for exploiting our hometown pride, for taking my hardearned income, & crapping on us!!

I still try to figure out why I support this team.The owner does not care about winning,just his pocketbook.I really do not like MB & I think he's scum.

Reddlegg exit stage left

at 1/10/2008 3:03 PM

Anonymous said...

Hey JimmyD,
The joke is on you. It is not I who knows nothing. You have no sense of humor, Sir.

Rich (AKA Anon 8:23)

at 1/10/2008 3:26 PM

Anonymous said...

Forget the Ravens! What about hiring a man with attitide, passion and fire! Mike Singletary could fit the bill and be ready to move up when ML moves on.
Does anyone know if Marv has any ties to Singletary?

at 1/10/2008 5:12 PM

Anonymous said...

Anyone who would want Bill Cowher as a Bengals coach has a very short memory. Lets not forget Carson's injury.

at 1/10/2008 6:07 PM

Anonymous said...

Ken..you are wrong..many of us would take Bill in a heartbeat

this team needs discipline and toughness and Cowher is still young

Frankly..as much as I like Marvin..I would get drunk for the first time in 12 years and celebrate if Cowher would come here in some capacity

Jack in Blue Ash

at 1/10/2008 6:27 PM

Anonymous said...

anon 5:12 yeah palmer got hurt in a football game it happens. BC did not instruct his team to screw up palmers knee

grow up

at 1/10/2008 6:44 PM

Anonymous said...

Anyone who thinks Mike Brown is the worst owner in sports ought to exit stage left and keep on truckin'.

That's not to say Brown is all that great, but he didn't sell his soul to another city like Art Modell, which leads to the worst owner in sports--maybe in history. Bill Bidwell of the Cardinals.

It's just not even close. THAT family IS a bunch of carpetbaggers. They've moved the franchise twice. They've been to the PLAYOFFS (not Super Bowl) four times in about 50 years. They routinely have the lowest payroll. Players and coaches don't want to go there. Fans in Chicago, St. Louis and now Arizona grew to despise the Bidwells.

And then there's Donald Sterling of the Clippers, who Sports Illustrated wrote an article a few years ago about being the worst owner in sports history. before their recent run there was no team--not even the Cardinals--as inept as the Clippers.

But then, you'd have to know something about sports outside the bubble of Cincinnati to know all this, Truman Burbank.

at 1/10/2008 8:01 PM

Anonymous said...

I don't believe this story has legs, I think it is just a reporter reaching. HOWEVER, it would be nice. Don't get me wrong, I was and am (a little) a ML supporter, but he has lost respect here and it is time to move on. ML would fit great in Baltimore, he is laid back and smiling and always saying NICE things. That is exactly what the Ravens need and he would fit in with all of them. In contrast, the Bengals always have needed and NEED a snarling, yelling, intense coach. Someone who will say whats wrong and not make excuses and who is a problem solver. One guy here said we don't want him because he reminds us of what the Steelers did to us, DUH that's why, he is a good coach. Schottenheimer and/or Billick may work, but they are still a little easy.... I think it could work, ML released to the Ravens for a 1st and 3rd this year (or 2nd and 3rd this year and 2nd next year) and then offer a high salary to Cowher to Coach here. I think "THE CHIN" is resolved to staying retired for another year, but it is only to wait for an opening to lead a franchise he wants. Although Cincy sucks right now, we have talent in place, are in a position to draft really well, and to sign a few difference makers (Haynesworth and Faneca). If Bill Cowher were offered a GM/Coach combo position (or at least full personnel control) and paid in the top 5 to 8, he would take it. The Bengals are in a very strange situation; The way it stands right now, they are stagnant at best with no real direction and bad decision making (i.e they are not real good). But, they have pieces in place and can put other pieces in play to be competitive real quick.... But we all know what would have to happen for that to be true... and that is where all of this ends Mike Brown and the same old story year after year after year. Go Bengals

at 1/10/2008 9:42 PM

Anonymous said...

brown sucks. its weird, really. any team that had the name of brown on it a year ago sucked. and we are stuck with mike brown and his children for the existence of the bengals. it's taboo.

at 1/10/2008 11:00 PM

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Mike isn't the worst owner in sports or even NFL - but he's still an embarrasssing joke.

He would have (theoretically) left in the 90's except, we smucks got suckered into eternal Brown-family welfare.

And he couldn't leave now (ala Bidwell) cause no one in their right mind would have this mess - Fairbanks, Alaska?

at 1/10/2008 11:11 PM

Anonymous said...

No decent coach will come here - think about it. All Mike can hire is guys hoping for a head coaching job (anywhere).

Mike doesn't want a guy with cojones - he wants guys who will be grateful and put up with his joke of a franchise. ML is only the most recent example of a long, long list.

at 1/11/2008 12:27 AM

Anonymous said...

Firefly I have no idea where you get your information but to say Schottenheimer is easy on his teams is a gut wrenching laugher. He's a renowned control freak and tyrant. His way or the highway.

That's exactly what the Bengals need. But the players would hate his guts. They always do. And there's no guarantee they would win. His offensive ideas are outdated by 20 years.

at 1/11/2008 1:27 AM

REddlegg in Colorado said...

Rick do you just want to argue?Why do you insist that MB is such a great owner.Ok,there are a few teams that have it bad along with the bengals.You forget to mention the D-rays too.They stink pretty bad. I am starting to think you are MB or related to him Rick!!!I don't care about them, I CARE ABOUT MY HOMETOWN TEAM'S!!!!

The bottomline is the 90's.No other team has the reputation the bungles do.When I mention to other sports fans out here in CO that I am a bengals fan.All I ever hear about how bad that franchise is ran from top to bottom,The 49ers of 81' & 88', & Carson Plamer,CJ,TJ. I have friends who are sports fans from all over, I keep up with the tide of the sports world.I know whos who & whats what. The bengals are in a high profile division,where teams like the Cardinals;Are in a weaker division with less attention.

Don't even get me started on the clippers,I live outside of Denver and go see the Nuggets & Clippers on a reg.Last time I checked the clippers were pretty good.They went deep into the playoffs last season and are contending again this season.A good solid coach in Mike Dunleavy & associates like Sam Cassel,Chrs Kamen,& etc...Show's the fans as a team they are committed to winning.Art Modell is a scum bag too,but Last time I checked he won a super bowl in 2001!!!So he gets a pass,because he wins.

Rick aren't you the cry baby that was complaining about people having no life and worrying to much about sports.Then I see you throwing around all these stats about everything.Sounds like someone has alot of time on their hands.I guess I would'nt know,not out the sports bubble of cincy that you were talking about.I live in Denver,CO buddie & guess what this a sports town 24/7.Football,baseball,basketball,(College & Pro)Soccer,Hockey,lacross,arena football,world class skiing & snowboarding, and a ton of other sports.GET OUT OF YOUR TROLLS NEST & THEN YOU MIGHT GET TO SEE A GAME,INSTEAD OF JUST LOOKING UP STATS ON THE COMPUTER!!!!!!!

Redlegg exit stage, up yours!!!(Rick)

at 1/11/2008 10:13 AM

Anonymous said...

Man, Reddlegg, hopefully you are not a wide representation of the Cincinnati school system, public or private, because your ability to read comprehensibly is astoundingly pitiful.

No one said the Browns were "great" owners. The point was there are owners and teams in sports that have a longer and deeper legacy of lethargy than your comical "bottomline" blabberings are wont to believe.

You are positively the guy on Rosecrans' blog last summer who got chased off because of these sort of wild-hair explosions, citing how embarrassed you are to be a Cincinnati fan and how all your friends make fun of you and boo-hoo-hoo on pitiful Reds fan so far from home.

You can't go to a game in Denver wearing your Cincinnati garb without being pelted with horrible laughter and insults and you blame Krivsky and the Brown family for the indignity of your dignity of being the fat kid in the front of the class.

Right-O.

As for your insight on the Clippers: Four playoff berths in the last 24 seasons, just four years at .500 or above since moving from Buffalo 29 years ago, and the documented worst team to draft in the history of professional sports.

Obviously, an elementary grasp on sports history is not your thing. That's okay. But neither is reading and writing. There in rests the problem.

at 1/11/2008 4:29 PM

Dude said...

Mark,
Do you think Mike Brown will see the Reds hiring of Walt Jocketty and realize he needs to hire an experienced success for the front office?

at 1/11/2008 5:54 PM

Anonymous said...

Time to let Marvin go if that is what he wants. Let him take Chad Johnson and Chris Henry with him!!

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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Lewis to Ravens?

41 Comments: