One arrest shouldn't seal Benson's fate

The Bears shouldn't even consider cutting Cedric Benson until training camp and, if he's healthy, they shouldn't cut him regardless of the outcome of Saturday night's arrest for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest.

The Bears should treat Benson's arrest as what it is -- a misdemeanor. Regular people don't usually lose their jobs over a misdemeanor, even if they're coming off a bad year. And in this case, there is considerable difference of opinion as to whether Benson resisted or was the object of overzealous police work. He has denied that he was drunk and that he resisted arrest.

Keep in mind, Benson has not been arrested since he was drafted by the Bears in April of 2005.

The fact that he's had only one arrest in three years doesn't make him a model citizen. But as general manager Jerry Angelo said last weekend after the Bears drafted two players with arrest records in college, "This isn't an angelic game, as we all know, so we certainly aren't going to get all angels."

And Benson is not a repeat offender in the NFL, although he was arrested for trespassing in college five years ago when he attempted to recover a TV set that had been stolen from him.

As of late Monday afternoon, Angelo, who was said to have been out of town Sunday, had yet to make any comment on the situation.

The knee jerks who want Benson released immediately point out that he averaged just 3.4 yards per carry last season, which is admittedly a putrid performance, especially for the fourth overall pick in the draft.

But no one on the Bears averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry last season. Adrian Peterson had the same average as Benson, Garrett Wolfe managed just 2.7 yards per attempt and Devin Hester netted minus-10 yards on 7 attempts behind an offensive line that struggled to create holes.

Second-round pick Matt Forte may well be capable of replacing Benson as the Bears' featured ball carrier, but Smith and Angelo have always insisted that the team that "gets off the bus running" needs two starting-caliber runners.

It's debatable whether Benson qualified last season as "starting caliber," and he's coming off a fractured left ankle that required surgery, screws and a plate to fix. But who didn't believe Benson was a serviceable NFL running back during the final seven regular-season games of the 2006 Super Bowl season, when he averaged 4.9 yards per attempt while splitting carries with Thomas Jones?

Jones is the guy who all the revisionist history buffs pine for while ripping Benson. But in 2006, when they both were running behind the same, solid offensive line, they had identical 4.1-yard averages. If Benson had a similar season last year, no one would be calling for his head.

It remains to be seen if Benson is healthy enough to duplicate that 2006 effort. If he is, he can still be a valuable contributor whether he's starting or not. If he can't contribute, then cut him, but not because of one arrest.

The Bears have already paid Benson $14 million in bonus money, the lion's share of what he'll make on his five-year rookie contract. Cutting him would cost millions of dollars in salary cap money that could go toward a new contract for Tommie Harris -- or Devin Hester, or Robbie Gould, or even an extension for Brian Urlacher.

If Benson can't help the Bears win, get rid of him and get someone who can. But let's wait for all the facts, all sides of the story and for the legal system to run its course before crucifying a player just because he hasn't lived up to expectations on the field.

If the Bears canned every player and coach who didn't get the job done last season, they could print their roster on a matchbook cover.