CINCINNATI -- Mike Brown likes Marvin Lewis. This is not in question.

But what is a little strange is unpacking what Brown, the Cincinnati Bengals' longtime president, said one month ago to reporters at the NFL's owners meetings and then putting it side-by-side with what he said in a statement released Wednesday after signing Lewis to a one-year extension that runs through 2016.

Placed adjacently, the respective comments lead to more questions about why Lewis will be coming back than answers.

Before Wednesday's extension, Lewis was under contract through the 2015 season on a one-year deal that was reached in March 2014.

Asked at last month's owners meetings in Arizona if he needed to sign Lewis this offseason to a new contract to prevent the coach from having a lame-duck year, Brown said:

"Marvin has done a fine job with us. ... We have a good relationship. I hope that relationship goes forward into the future. But we aren't at the future yet. We don't have to make this decision until after this year.

"We have done this kind of arrangement with Marvin off and on through the years. This is not the first time. It's not something unusual at all to expect people to fulfill their contract before you talk about their next contract."

Those comments didn't exactly scream "upcoming contract extension" for Lewis. It gave the impression that no one should be surprised if the Bengals let Lewis coach through the year without a new deal.

But something apparently changed. What was it? Because Brown notoriously, and probably smartly, plays his cards close to the vest, the world likely will never fully know.

Here, in part, is what Brown said in the Bengals' announcement of Lewis' signing Wednesday:

"The extension reflects our confidence in him and how things look to us as we move forward. We are happy to have reached this agreement."

It's the "move forward" part that's most interesting. Remember, a month ago, there was simply "hope" that Lewis would be part of the Bengals' future plans. That same hope appeared connected to a future that existed in some unforeseen time after the 2015 season concluded; not a period barely four weeks later.

So how exactly does the Bengals' future look?

Right now, their horizon is about as hazy as their annual playoff hopes. At present, it's hard to see them (A) winning a playoff game, and (B) winning one after the 2015 season.

While thanks to Lewis the Bengals have for years had the talent and personnel to win in the postseason, it simply hasn't happened. They are 0-6 in the playoffs under their 13-year head coach.

As it pertains to Cincinnati's future beyond this year, the fog gets even thicker. Currently 28 players on the Bengals' 68-man roster will be eligible for free agency next year, including 12 who started at least one game in 2014. Quarterback Andy Dalton's contract also becomes more favorable for his release after this season if the team doesn't feel his performance is up to snuff.

Uncertainty is on the Bengals' doorstep. The window for a championship appears to be rapidly closing.

Perhaps that's Brown's logic. As he sees the rocky landscape confronting his team beyond this season, he recognized the need for establishing some measure of stability. A head-coaching search in January would have only compounded the free-agent issue the Bengals have.

That somehow makes this move seem smarter. But was signing Lewis at this particular time truly what was best for the franchise? That's just another question the rest of us will have to continue to process.