By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The first estimates of the offseason are out, and the Bengals appear to be in good shape.

The Bengals reportedly have $9 million of salary cap room, according to ESPN.com. As of Dec. 31, the Bengals had $69.1 million committed to player contacts for 2004.

The projected salary cap is $78.1 million for 2004.

Coach Marvin Lewis, unavailable Tuesday for comment, has said recently that the cap is a fluid number that can be managed.

The Bengals are expected to be in the running for some top free agents, especially among a class of highly rated cornerbacks.

Among the Bengals' AFC North rivals, Baltimore has the most cap room of any NFL team, at $24.02 million. Cleveland is ranked 25th with $1.3 million of space, and Pittsburgh is ranked 30th at $2.67 million over the cap, according to ESPN figures.

Tennessee is reportedly in the worst cap condition of any NFL team, at $16.4 million over.

COACHING HONORS: Lewis is running first in voting for Staples Coach of the Year at NFL.com.

Of 63,320 votes cast online by fans, Lewis led Tuesday with 42.5 percent. Dallas' Bill Parcells was second at 16.2 percent, Philadelphia's Andy Reid third at 12.4 percent and New England's Bill Belichick fourth at 12.2 percent. Voting will continue through Jan. 17.

Belichick won the official balloting organized by the Associated Press and by a panel of 50 sportswriters and broadcasters who cover the NFL. Lewis was a distant second.

MORE MARVIN: Lewis continues to draw national praise for his work in improving the Bengals six games in his rookie season. They were 8-8 after finishing a league-worst 2-14 in 2002.

Pro Football Weekly gave Lewis an "A" grade in its analysis of 2003 coaches, writing in its issue dated Jan. 5: "Lewis engineered the NFL's feel-good story of the season. His best moves were sticking with QB Jon Kitna throughout the season and retaining offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, who has overseen one of the league's most balanced attacks.

"The defense has a lot of catching up to do, but Lewis will need some time to acquire the personnel to remake it in his image. Lewis is working to change the culture of an organization that is still behind in some areas, particularly scouting."

SPECIAL NOTICE: Bengals special teams coach Darrin Simmons was cited as NFL assistant coach of the year by annual rankings in the Dallas Morning News. Simmons oversaw a kicking game that allowed no return touchdowns (five under former special teams coach Al Roberts in 2002) and scored one of its own on a Peter Warrick punt return.

Simmons also worked with kicker Shayne Graham, who missed just three of 25 field goal attempts.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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