CHICAGO SPORTS BLOG - THE CHICAGO BEARS CUT TIES WITH CEDRIC BENSON
It's hard to imagine that Cedric Benson is no longer a
Chicago Bear. After being a highly
touted first round pick in 2005. Benson
never amounted to much for the Bears and had amassed only 1593 yards in three
seasons with a yards per carry average of 3.8.
The Bears made a big money investment for Benson and now have had to
resort to cutting him. Not surprising,
no team claimed Benson on the waiver wire with his two recent arrests and very
little production as the premier runner for the Bears in 2007.
Matt Forte, Rookie running back from Tulane, now has his
chance to begin his career as the Bears likely starter with an offense that has
several areas to address. What is ever
so clear is how risky draft picks really are and how much money is at stake
when a young player is drafted, in particular the first round.
This year, the Bears drafted an offensive lineman, Chris
Williams, from Vanderbilt but due to him not being a skill player and having
been drafted later than Benson, he didn't command the money Benson did. Benson became expendable due to his lack of
performance and his behavior, which wasn't tolerated by the Bears.
I'm disappointed that the Bears wasted three years
trying to discern if Benson would become the player he was in college and in
that process traded away Thomas Jones to the New York Jets. Now the Bears have to rely on a rookie to
perhaps shoulder the load in addition to a quarterback situation that still is
very unstable. I hope the defense and
special teams can play well this year, otherwise this could be a long, dismal
season.
JEFF ARDITO & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
