Carl Lawson calls Bengals ‘front-runner’ in candid free-agency chat
Cincinnati Bengals pass-rusher Carl Lawson sounds like a guy who wants to stick with his team despite an impending trip to free agency where he’ll be one of the most sought-after pressure creators in the NFL.
Lawson, after escaping the franchise tag at this week’s deadline, heads to market next week a few days after legal tampering begins.
But before that, Lawson sat down for an extensive, superb interview with Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. Tucked in there is a telling quote about his plans for free agency:
“Of course the Bengals are the front-runner; we just haven’t gotten to any of the negotiations and stuff yet…I just know, talking with the Bengals, I think they would do right by me. And we’ll get that situation talked about first, but there is a lot of interest out there; that’s what I’m hearing. So it will be interesting to see what happens the next couple weeks. … Of course, I’m comfortable where I’m at. But it doesn’t make sense to not listen to what people have to say, but if there are better options for me and my family, then people will understand that. It’s not like they don’t have a great shot at landing me. Why would you tag me if you know you have a good shot at talking with me?”
The whole interview, not done through the team, is downright incredible (especially the part about fans misconstruing some of his social media posts that have nothing to do with football).
But the above text is the most important — Lawson wants to stick in Cincinnati, but he’d be doing himself a disservice by not seeing what the market has to offer if and when the time comes, too.
The Bengals can’t really afford to lose a player like Lawson given the sour state of the pass-rush as it is. All Lawson’s candid interview does is confirm the Bengals need to get on the ball about re-signing him over the weekend before the tampering window opens.
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