Marvin Lewis Doesn’t Sound Like a Guy Who Expects Cedric Benson Back
Alex Dunlap, Rosterwatch.com

I had the opportunity to address Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis about the status moving forward of RB Cedric Benson, who will be entering free agency for the coming season.

I knew that he wasn’t going to go into the specific details of the Bengals’ plan at the RB position, as that would go against everything draft season is about: smokescreens, misinformation and tight lips. So I phrased the question as such to try and draw out a little more information than if asked otherwise:

“How high a priority do you place on bringing back Cedric Benson next year?”

His answer- “We are looking to upgrade the running back position. Ced has been a great player for us. He’s a big body, great player, and obviously he has been a big part of what we have been able to do in previous seasons.” He went on to speak in more generalities then took the next question.

He did not say one thing about how big a priority it was, or in fact- whether it was a priority, period. The general vibe I got from Lewis in his answer is that the writing is on the wall: I believe they are moving on. This echoes the sentiment of many others close to the organization I have spoke with. No one will say anything on record… but its a “he may be back but, yea…he may not” kind of attitude with a wink, wink kind of connotation.