Tuesday’s franchise tag deadline zipped past without word from the Cincinnati Bengals about Carl Lawson or William Jackson.
It’s at least a mild surprise, as Lawson is one of the best pass-rushers headed to the open market and Jackson might just be the outright best corner. Both were far and away the best players at the respective positions on the Bengals.
Despite the team not using a tag on either player, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported the Bengals would still like to get Lawson back in the mix. No word on Jackson, though that doesn’t mean much at this point.
There’s nothing too shocking about the Bengals still wanting to extend both guys. It might be a simple case of money, as the team wants to throw as much cash as possible at free-agent offensive linemen, while spreading the immediate cap hits of Jackson and Lawson on extensions out to future years.
If that’s the case, the Bengals have until Monday afternoon to work out extensions with these players before they can start negotiating with other teams.
