Maybe rookie Matt Forte has been looking so impressive that Benson just decided to throw the towel in. Maybe rookie Matt Forte has looked so unimpressive that Benson thought his job was a lock, regardless the reason Bears running back Cedric Benson is back in the news.
Benson was arrested and charged with a DWI early Saturday morning. This obviously is not going to help him clear his name from his arrest early last month.
The Bears have pretty much done everything they can for him. They drafted him with the #4 pick. They traded an at the time better running back, Thomas Jones, so Benson could become the Bears franchise RB. Following a poor previous season and a rough off season the Bears still gave Benson the number #1 spot.
"Disappointment is too much an often-used word when we're talking about Cedric, and the number one lesson for every player is protect your job," Angelo said. "So we're all held accountable for our actions."
Asked if the new arrest will weigh against Benson, Angelo said: "Well, it doesn't weigh very well. And it's unfortunate. We will deal with it when we know everything."
At this point the Bears have to take action. It will come across as hypocritical to release Tank Johnson and not deal with Cedric Benson. Obviously, the two cases are not exactly the same, but if you are going to take a stance on off the field problems you have to across the board.
At the very least the Bears have to put more time in with Matt Forte to see if he can take over the job. If he can it will make it much easier to let Benson go, so somebody can pick him up, I assume Oakland or Dallas, because..well... they do that type of stuff.
This is just one more thing to highlight a horrible off season the Bears have been having.