Cedric Benson was drafted in 2005 to be a franchise-changing running back. He had me, ignoring his draft-day tears, believing in the hype. He had me defending him after his lackluster play and his first DUI charge. Of course, he had head coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jerry Angelo doing the same--and I'm guessing here--on a larger scale. All of these issues came to a head Monday following Benson's second DUI arrest in a month.

How would Smith and Angelo handle the situation? They stopped defending him. On Monday, the Bears placed Cedric Benson on waivers, effectively cutting ties with their distractions.

In a statement to the media, Angelo announced the move.

"Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate. As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of 'team' will not play for the Chicago Bears."

Maybe things would have been different if Benson had produced on the field. Instead, Benson rushed for only 1,593 yards in three seasons. When the Bears organization gift-wrapped the starting job for Benson by trading Thomas Jones, Benson responded with a season which only confirmed suspicions: he was a bust.

Now, the Bears are left with rookie running back Matt Forte, drafted in the second round out of Tulane, and longtime backup "Chicago-Adrian" Peterson battling it out for the starting position. Hey, Minnesota, that sounds like some yards, doesn't it?

Considering Jon Gruden's penchant for quarterbacks, a long-term stay as starting quarterback is unlikely in Tampa Bay. The future of Jeff Garcia, the Buccaneers' current starter, may also be in question.

Garcia, during a Wednesday interview on Sirius Satellite Radio, reveled that he is frustrated with the treatment he has received from the Buccaneers. Retirement is a possibility if he does not receive a new contract.

Coming off of a Pro-Bowl season, Garcia feels “taken advantage of” in terms of his contract. Prior to last season, he signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers after a successful run with the Eagles in place of injured quarterback Donovan McNabb. Now in the last year of his contract, Garcia is set to make $2 million, an amount far below his Pro-Bowl counterparts.

“That’s a frustration,” Garcia said. “If it doesn’t work itself out, if a contract is not presented as far as a renewal to finish my career, then I will seriously think about what my alternate options may be. And it may come to not playing football anymore. I feel like when you mistreat people there comes a time when it doesn’t matter how much you are paid, it’s going to lead to some drastic decisions.

“I do believe that if I step away and let a contract to be a problem, an issue, a distraction, then I’m not going to grow within the system the way I need to grow,” Garcia said. “So I just battle through it. There are days I’m not as excited to be there, I’ll be honest.”

Does Garcia deserve a raise? He played at a very high level last season. Quarterbacking under Gruden isn't the easiest of things. All things considered, he probably does. We will see if anything gets done before the season starts.

Former Redskin wide receiver Brandon Lloyd signed with a new team and started a quarterback controversy in the same day. Lloyd agreed to a one-year deal with the Chicago Bears on Friday. Later, in a conference call, he made his "mistake."

"Rex Grossman is the starter," he said.

Previously, the Bears coaching staff said that there would be an open competition between Grossman and Kyle Orton to start next season. Apparently, Lloyd jumped the gun on the matter. To be sure, the media asked Lloyd who told him that Grossman would be the starter.

The receiver stumbled, saying, "That's what I'm unassuming. That's what..."

Lloyd trailed off. I can just imagine the management sitting there, telling him what to say. "Orton and Grossman signed one-year deals. I figured Grossman was the starter. Open competition is what I'm being told right now," Lloyd said.

Immediately after Lloyd relinquished the phone, Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner cleared up the matter. He said, "Brandon said that he assumed it would be Rex. I just wanted to clarify that before we got going. You guys know the situation. It's an open competition. Both guys have been told that, and when I talked to Brandon about the quarterback situation, I talked about both guys -- about Rex Grossman and Kyle. We've got two guys who can get the ball to all of our receivers."