NFL.Com Sportswriter Steve Wyche reports that the Cincinnati Bengals opened up negotiations in an attempt to keep their Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer. Zimmer, by all accounts has done a fantastic job with the #4 overall ranked Bengals defense even with injuries to key players. Rumors started flying the moment Mike Shanahan took the Redskins job that Zimmer was on the top of Shanahan’s Defensive Coordinator list. The problem for the Bengals is twofold.

The first problem is the Bengals organization is notoriously cheap. The second problem is Dan Snyder is far from cheap. For the Bengals this is like trying to outbid the Yankees in terms of pocketbook depth. This appears to be a situation where the Bengals front office may have already shot themselves in the foot. If they thought Zimmer was so good why didn’t they lock him up earlier? Especially since they had to know that any coaches that experience dramatic success like Zimmer will be in demand.

Now that Zimmer knows he is being pursued by the free spending Redskins he’d be a fool not to listen to offers. The Bengals could have avoided this situation entirely.