LJWorld.com / Commentary: Benson’s career could be in jeopardy

Archive for Monday, May 5, 2008

By David Haugh - Chicago Tribune

May 5, 2008

Chicago — Whether it was on May 3 or on third-and-1, Cedric Benson was bound to disappoint the Chicago Bears again.

Saturday night in Austin, Texas, Benson did so on a boat. Any Sunday next fall, if the Bears aren’t careful, he will disappoint them as an anchor.

Not that it should come to that. If Benson ever carries the ball again for the Bears, the team has learned even less than the running back in the last three years.

A team that wants to get off the bus running the football must know by now it can’t rely on a guy who got off the boat running from the law Saturday night.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak with Cedric yet, but anytime we’re talking about one of our players getting arrested, you’re disappointed in it,” coach Lovie Smith said Sunday at Halas Hall. “I’ll go back and try to get as much information as I possibly can and go from there.”

The truth is Benson’s NFL career already was adrift before he was arrested on Lake Travis on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

After the Bears drafted Matt Forte in the second round out of Tulane, Jerry Angelo used words to describe Benson that closely followed the definition of bust in any general manager’s dictionary. Almost on cue, Forte arrived in Chicago for rookie camp looking the part of the featured back the Bears hope he can be.

While the disturbing image of Benson’s mug shot was being distributed Sunday for Internet ridicule, Forte was humbly saying all the right things after a weekend full of doing them. If last weekend’s scene at Halas Hall was the beginning of the end of Benson’s Bears career, this was Act 2.

Nothing wrong with Benson going boating in the offseason with some buddies back home in Texas, where he is revered. But a guy with his spotty past needs to know better than to put himself in a situation opposite law enforcement that might escalate into what it has.

If Benson is taking the blame for somebody else on his boat and wasn’t the driver, that might mitigate any criticism. But resisting arrest so an officer feels threatened enough to use pepper spray just shows poor judgment that deprives Benson of the benefit of the doubt. Frankly, he hasn’t earned it.

Instead, the news earned Benson more mockery than sympathy around Chicago.

Though the Bears could justify dumping Benson as early as Monday, they have no need to react emotionally to the boat bust of their draft bust. They also don’t want to act hastily by cutting one of agent Eugene Parker’s clients while negotiating an important long-term deal with another, Devin Hester.

If the Bears wait until after June 1 to cut Benson, it would save them about $820,000 of the $3.365 million he counts against the 2008 salary cap—not that a team with $16.4 million of cap space has to worry about such details.

The Bears also might be able to pry away something in return for Benson if a team believes it can rehabilitate a fourth overall draft pick. When it comes to NFL trades, there is a sucker born every minute. It’s at least worth dangling Benson.

The best course for the Bears: Gather information, evaluate it fairly and pursue a veteran running back to provide insurance. Leave all doors open, especially the exit.