Report: Lewis, Jackson pitched 2-year succession plan to Bengals owner

The Cincinnati Bengals appear to have been weighing the possibility of a rather unique strategy in their efforts to retain Hue Jackson earlier this offseason.

Following his report indicating the Bengals and Marvin Lewis have agreed to a one-year extension, NFL Media's Michael Silver added that the head coach and now-former offensive coordinator previously pitched a two-year succession plan to team ownership.

From Silver's appearance on NFL Network:

After the seventh playoff defeat, against no victories, of his Bengals tenure this past January, there was a lot of doubt about Marvin Lewis' future. And with Hue Jackson, his offensive coordinator, a hot head coaching candidate, Marvin Lewis went to Hue Jackson and together they hatched a plan that would have kept Hue Jackson on in Cincinnati with a two-year succession plan, at which point Marvin Lewis would step down. They went and shopped that to owner Mike Brown, who did not want to put that in writing.

Jackson, of course, went on to accept the Cleveland Browns' head coaching job, and the Bengals promoted Ken Zampese to offensive coordinator in his place.

While the would-be arrangement was made irrelevant with Jackson's eventual departure, the discussions may have shed some light on Lewis' future plans.

The 57-year-old said prior to the 2015 season that it was possible he'd retire if the Bengals went on to win Super Bowl 50.

He's since stressed that retirement wasn't a consideration when the year came to an end with yet another first-round playoff exit, but he certainly seems to have been open to the idea of agreeing to walk away in two years' time.

Either way, the veteran head coach is now under contract for the next two seasons, and the Bengals can be expected to remain in Super Bowl contention throughout that stretch.

Lewis boasts a career record of 112-94-2 over his 13 years at the helm in Cincinnati.