By PFW staff
June 7, 2008

Embattled RB Cedric Benson's already shaky status with the Bears was dealt another severe blow when he was arrested and charged with drunken driving in downtown Austin, Texas, Friday evening — just one month after being arrested on Austin's Lake Travis on charges of boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest, a charge that is still pending. Benson was released at 9 a.m. this morning on bond, Travis County Jail officials said. Addressing  the local media at  the 2008 Subway Bears Expo at Soldier Field this morning, Bears GM Jerry Angelo said no specific action would be taken regarding Benson's latest mishap until the team completes its own internal investigation of Benson's latest mishap and has a chance to speak directly to Benson.

The former first-round draft pick is coming off a disappointing 2007 campaign, but Bears head coach Lovie Smith said just before the Bears' mandatory minicamp that the starting RB job was Benson's to lose.

The PFW spin

The Cedric Benson saga is very much starting to look like the Tank Johnson saga, which eventually ended with the Bears throwing up their hands and releasing Johnson after his repeated run-ins with police had became a major source of embarrassment to the Bears' organization. After convincing many that he might have been unfairly victimized in the Lake Travis boating incident, Benson will be hard-pressed to justify his latest unbelievably ill-timed arrest. That could particularly be the case with the league office, which now will have more reason to nail Benson with some sort of a suspension that he and his team can ill afford.

Ironically, team insiders went away from the Bears' minicamp in agreement that Benson looked a lot lighter and quicker, and that he appeared to be in good shape for his widely anticipated battle with second-round draft pick Matt Forté for the starting RB job. It's quite possible now, though, that there won't be any battle, with the growing likelihood that the Bears may decide to cut the cord with Benson — and accordingly cut their losses on a consistently disappointing investment.

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