DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Browns release LeCharles Bentley

This would've have been a great "feel good" story being a hometown guy and all but frankly, I think we'll be fine with our O-Line.

Personal opinion? It all about $$$$. I think his contract could've escalated to about $4 million, with incentives, depending on playing time. If he didn't think he was going to get to "audition" for his next contract, he cut bait. Lost a TON of respect for him.

I don't care if he goes and plays in the Canadian League as long as it's not for the Steelers, Bengals or Rats.

How much cap space will this free up for the Browns? Anyone know???

Without knowing what happened so far..I'll say this..
If this is due to him not being able to start at center..(I thought RG would be the spot he would compete)..I got the notion the Browns would bring him along slowly ,give him some reps.. then compete for a job..
If he is capable of starting then it would be logical to be cautious with him until they know he can take over..
If he didn't want to wait for that or feels he's insurance as he said..


Am I the only one who has almost the same exact feeling in my gut as I did when I learned about his injury at training camp???

I was trying to figure that out..... probably not much. It'll probably chew up some space.


His salary was league minimum @ $605k, and we just re-did his contract, but we're still on the hook for the original signing bonus money.... BUT, it is after June 1, so whatever accellerated hit there is is spread between this year and next. If any of his $4Million in incentives were classified as "Likely to be Earned", then that would have already counted against the cap and we should gain that back.


In short, there's just no way to really know until someone with the actual numbers says something.

After listening to Bentley talk yesterday, I'll pretty much guarantee you he got whiny about playing center and starting for the team. Otherwise, why would he mention that he was brought in as a center and wants to play center and say he'll play in 2008 "somewhere"?

LeCharles needs to realize this... this is not 2006. Our offensive line is not abysmal. Hank Fraley has done a great job at center and you don't screw up chemistry by moving a guy like him. If he really wanted to play and contribute on this team, he would've sucked it up at RG, fought and won the competition, and then gone from there. He seems to think he has earned the right to be a starting center just by putting on the uniform. While I admire his fight back incredibly, it's RIDICULOUS to come in after not playing in the NFL for 2 years and expect to start on one of the best lines in the NFL without even running through a full practice. You CANNOT sit around for 2 years and wait for someone to get better.

In my mind, LeCharles can take the $16m or so he's gotten from us in the past two years and his ridiculous sense of entitlement and try to find another team that will take an irrational risk on him. Maybe when he finds that NO ONE is willing to give him what he wants, he'll come crawling back and do it the right way. He may say he's a Brown at heart, but actions speak louder than words.

That's what I get for getting my hopes up.

IDK how anyone can back up a guy who would do that. He was a big talker on cb homepage interviews. How does he expect Cleveland to take this? We gave him two years and he did not give us one? I have no respect for that. Its not even that he's gone because i have no idea how he would play now but the way it happened so far is bad.

I agree, Law is way to much money for a washed up player. We already had Ted and still have Willy please don't get another washed up vet.

Holy crap!!! I should have known something would go wrong. Its kind of a slap in the face.

Quote:

---

That's what I get for getting my hopes up.

---

I don't know for sure Jules, but I think there might actually be something positive that could be said.

No player is bigger than the game.. So maybe LCB wanted something the Browns weren't prepared to offer up at this time. Maybe like a starting job at Center.

Fraley was just too darn good last year for us to even consider that right out of the gate.. IMO!

So maybe the positive is that it's addition by subtraction so to speak. Maybe we just got rid of a bad apple.. or at least one that has a chip on his shoulder.

But I'm just thinking out loud,, i certainly don't have any facts to back that thinking up.

Why can't he become a starter by idk....winning the spot? Finish your last year on the contract, do good and play maybe even start, then next year he could get a big check. I did not know he was that kind of a guy. Big shock to me seemed like a stand up football player.

Wow, surprising but not shocking. Like I said in the other thread before this came out, it's the Cleveland Browns, not the Cleveland Bentleys. He would have to earn a spot on the roster, even as a backup and apparently that wasn't good enough for LeCharles. I applaud the FO for not letting this turn into a major distraction. In a way, I feel bad for the other guys and what this must make them feel like right now, but I'm sure RAC will get them refocused on the job at hand.

Quote:

---

In a way, I feel bad for the other guys and what this must make them feel like right now, but I'm sure RAC will get them refocused on the job at hand.

---

I don't see how this will make the rest of the team feel badly,..it's not like they have some long developed relationship with guy, or that he's contributed to any of the successes the team has achieved.

I would think they just lost a ton of respect for a guy most hardly knew.

I doubt anyone feels good about it. It is the right move, but the other guys were clearly behind LeCharles and his comeback. As far as any secret glee that he's gone, I doubt it's happening. JMHO

Bentley's whole rant yesterday was unsettling. It seemed like he was one foot out the door the whole time. Sad to see him go, but if he's carrying an attitude about it, good riddance. Enjoy the $16 million you earned.

j/c cal


I think from everything that has happened this was worked out between the Browns and Bentley long ago. I think what LeCharles is mad about is he felt he was ready to go last season but the Browns put him on the PUP list for the rest of the year. I would imagine that was a salary cap move. The Browns claimed he wasnt ready to go so they wouldnt release him until after June 1st. I think it was obvious that the Browns did not want him but could not release him until he was declared healthy.

I would not blame Lecharles completely for this.

KING

wow, i did not see this coming, especially one day after coming back. he hasn't played in two years, so I would think it logical he would want to be weened back into the starting lineup and earn the spot.

another question is who do you think will sign him and guarentee him a starting spot?

i wish LCB the best of luck, but man, I'm kinda heartbroken right now

Heres the thing..if this is about starting and since the word INSURANCE POLICY was used..why couldn't he just go out and practice , give it everything he's got and see if he couldn't start at RG or at least be a first backup?
If he holds up .he could win a starting job at some point.

Unless he feels he can start now..but Fraley is the starter now..U just don't hand that over to Bentley.

He's been out of football for two years and would have been a free agent after this season. It seems he would have been better off staying here and making the team and proving his health rather than requesting his release to try to chase the short term gain. Any contract he gets at this point will be minimalist, and probably the same one year deal he just got let out of.

Viewing it on the surface, it is just completely irrational.

Day after returning to practice, Bentley released

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3437734

BEREA, Ohio -- The story of LeCharles Bentley and the Cleveland Browns took another odd -- and final -- turn Wednesday.


In what has been a bizarre situation from the very beginning, Bentley skipped practice this morning to ask for his release. The Browns granted it, just 24 hours after the team announced that he passed his physical and was cleared to rejoin the team.

There were good vibes coming from both sides Tuesday after Bentley practiced with the team for the first time in nearly two years.

"He asked for permission for his release and it was granted," Bentley's agent, Jonathan Feinsod said. "When LeCharles originally signed with the Browns, their situation is entirely different than it was today. Because of his injury, the Browns didn't know if and when he was going to come back and had to make alternative plans."

Apparently, Bentley has alternative plans, too.

Bentley was arguably one of the best centers in the NFL when healthy, and he didn't want to remain in Cleveland as a backup. He will be looking to sign with another team before the season where he has a better opportunity to be a starter.

After signing a six-year, $36 million contract in 2006, Bentley never saw a down in a Browns uniform after having two knee surgeries in the past two years. He tore his patellar tendon during the first day of training camp two years ago and needed a second surgery to clear out a subsequent staph infection.

After two years of an up-and-down relationship between Bentley and the team, both sides will look to move on.

"There is no animosity with the Cleveland Browns," Feinsod said. "They had to do what they had to do. They couldn't sit back and wait, and they didn't."

Since he was on a one year stint ..don't you think the Browns would have tried to resign him , especially if he showed he was close to his old form?
I cannot see them letting him just walk in the offseason..if dude is brute, we don't have that calibre type of linemen in the stable..

http://cle.scout.com/2/761461.html

The Cleveland Browns announced this afternoon that they have released offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley, less than 24 hours after welcoming the offensive lineman back to the field.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bentley proclaimed in comments to the media that he planned to start somewhere in the NFL this season, statements which indicated a pretty significant disconnect between player and organization.

After this morning's practice, Bentley requested a meeting with the Browns brass, and talked with head coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage. Without giving an reasons for his request, Bentley asked for his release from the team. Savage told the media this afternoon that the Browns "felt compelled" to honor his request and allow the lineman to leave.

During a seven-minute meeting with the media, Savage did not elaborate as to why the Browns gave in so easily to Bentley's request. After two years of rehab, the lineman is now a free agent.

While not explicitly discussed by the team today, Bentley's desire to play and start immediately clearly did not jive with the Browns cautious approach to dealing with the lineman. As had been reported numerous times on the Orange and Brown Report in past months, the Browns were taking a "wait-and-see" tack with the lineman, and hoped to see whether or not his knee would hold up when contact began. The OBR has been advising caution with respect to Bentley's potential, due to what we had learned from team sources, questions about Bentley's ability to take punishment, the team's concern about both liability, and risk to the entire offensive line if the the team depended too much on Bentley's contributions.

The mismatch in expectations was bound to cause trouble, which arrived faster than expected.


Seemingly upset about the team's plans, Bentley missed a team meeting and practice this morning. Within several hours, internet reports were saying that Bentley had either retired or been released by the club.

Playing with the Browns was to be a happy hometown ending for Bentley, who had played high school ball at St. Ignatious and college football at Ohio State. After being drafted by the New Orleans Saints and excelling with them, Bentley was the prize signing of the 2006 free agent class.

Nothing went well after the heady few days where Bentley was proclaimed a building block for the franchise. On the first play of training camp in August 2006, Bentley tore a patellar tendon and was taken off the field. A staph infection - one of many suffered by Browns players - nearly resulted in the loss of the leg entirely.

The offensive lineman then chose to rehab away from the Browns facility, a decision which did not appear to put him in the good graces of the franchise. Despite the team's constant downplaying of Bentley's potential to return, it appeared that player and team had reached common ground on Tuesday as mini-camp began. Pushing aside several years of what appeared to be subtle conflict between the two, the team announced that had passed his physical and that he was approved to practice individual drills with the Browns.

A day later, Bentley was leaving the Berea training facility with his suitcase

Bye-Bye Bentley, Bye-Bye

By Barry McBride
OBR Publisher
Posted Jun 11, 2008


The ill-fated arc of the premier 2006 free agent signing was completed today in Berea, as the Browns announced to the media that LeCharles Bentley has been released by the team.

The Cleveland Browns announced this afternoon that they have released offensive lineman LeCharles Bentley, less than 24 hours after welcoming the offensive lineman back to the field.

On Tuesday afternoon, Bentley proclaimed in comments to the media that he planned to start somewhere in the NFL this season, statements which indicated a pretty significant disconnect between player and organization.

After this morning's practice, Bentley requested a meeting with the Browns brass, and talked with head coach Romeo Crennel and GM Phil Savage. Without giving an reasons for his request, Bentley asked for his release from the team. Savage told the media this afternoon that the Browns "felt compelled" to honor his request and allow the lineman to leave.

During a seven-minute meeting with the media, Savage did not elaborate as to why the Browns gave in so easily to Bentley's request. After two years of rehab, the lineman is now a free agent.

While not explicitly discussed by the team today, Bentley's desire to play and start immediately clearly did not jive with the Browns cautious approach to dealing with the lineman. As had been reported numerous times on the Orange and Brown Report in past months, the Browns were taking a "wait-and-see" tack with the lineman, and hoped to see whether or not his knee would hold up when contact began. The OBR has been advising caution with respect to Bentley's potential, due to what we had learned from team sources, questions about Bentley's ability to take punishment, the team's concern about both liability, and risk to the entire offensive line if the the team depended too much on Bentley's contributions.

The mismatch in expectations was bound to cause trouble, which arrived faster than expected.

Seemingly upset about the team's plans, Bentley missed a team meeting and practice this morning. Within several hours, internet reports were saying that Bentley had either retired or been released by the club.

Playing with the Browns was to be a happy hometown ending for Bentley, who had played high school ball at St. Ignatious and college football at Ohio State. After being drafted by the New Orleans Saints and excelling with them, Bentley was the prize signing of the 2006 free agent class.

Nothing went well after the heady few days where Bentley was proclaimed a building block for the franchise. On the first play of training camp in August 2006, Bentley tore a patellar tendon and was taken off the field. A staph infection - one of many suffered by Browns players - nearly resulted in the loss of the leg entirely.

The offensive lineman then chose to rehab away from the Browns facility, a decision which did not appear to put him in the good graces of the franchise. Despite the team's constant downplaying of Bentley's potential to return, it appeared that player and team had reached common ground on Tuesday as mini-camp began. Pushing aside several years of what appeared to be subtle conflict between the two, the team announced that had passed his physical and that he was approved to practice individual drills with the Browns.

A day later, Bentley was leaving the Berea training facility with his suitcase in his hand, headed off to an uncertain future.

http://cle.scout.com/a.z?s=149&p=2&c=761461

Bentley might be on all bets are off on STO today there trying to get him on and in talks with his agent to

We've got really lousy luck with hometown centers that we're hoping to rely on.

First the guy that up and retired on us when Bentley went down and he would have to carry the load, and now Bentley.


Note to Berea: NO MORE CLEVELAND CENTERS.. NOTHING BUT IMPORTS !

j/c

Unbelievable! Yesterday I thought this was Great! Today... it's over before it began! What happened here?

Watch LCB sign with the fins, raiders or the cowboys... and be a monster at center. This just sux and stinks of BS politcs.

I like Hank Fraley and believe he is great in his role... but that shouldn't eliminate him from competition! Just like DA... He did good last year, He might be great this year... So we're not going to have a competition for QB?

Romeo has said EVERY position is a competition time and time again... I guess this does not apply to players with wink wink contract promisses?
BS.

20mil for 1.001 practices. Man I want a job like that.

just clicking

If LCB didn;t want to be "an insurance policy" then he should simply play better than either Fraley at center or Hadnot at guard. But he figures that he should just be handed back the center spot after not playing football for 2 years?



This just brings back some of the bad feelings I had about the LCB signing 2 years ago when he was spouting off that he would only sign somewhere where he would play center. Mr. "Me First" attitude.....

I'm disgusted by this move. The organization and the fans stand behind LCB for two long years...PRAYING for him to come back. And his response? He gets pouty because he's not guaranteed a starting spot in his first season back and demands a release.

I hope you never play another down of football again.


Post edited due to masked profanity. Do not use it again

I am listening to WTAM and Andre Knott..and it sounds like Bentley wanted to be handed a starter spot ..didn't want to be a backup ..and was/is unhappy how he got treated when the injury occured..the whole staph hit and such..

Knott said there could be some litigation (Bentley may try to sue the team)coming later, but he was speculating..
Knott also said Phil wasn't happy with this situation at all..

at approximately 4 25 today Bentley will be on all bets are off on sto

My first post here in a very long time here. I prefer reading and lurking but felt I had to comment on this news. Saw the headline and felt completely gutted. If he's in the physical shape that LCB says he's in then I'm wondering why we couldn't have offloaded him for a draft pick or something? I doubt other teams will offer him more then the leagues minimum salary and with only one year left on his deal I'm puzzled to why he wants to be released. Guess that sums up football for you.

"Am I the only one who has almost the same exact feeling in my gut as I did when I learned about his injury at training camp?"

Not this dawg...Oh, I was ecstatic to hear him come back - but lets face it this team moved on since his injury and went out and built this OL into a darn good one.

I'm pretty disappointed that he didn't want to fight and compete at least for a starting job and is doing this cause we just didn't say - OH HERE take the Center job even though we don't know you can play yet I just don't get his logic here and I am disappointed in his character to not want to fight for the job!

As for Savage...I think he might be moving to hastily, he should have told Bentley to have his agent work out a trade and we would oblige him.

They could work out a trade with Zona (maybe we get a 4th rounder???) it seems like Bentley would be comfortable playing in Zona and they sure could use him.

JMHO - but we won't miss a beat or him for that matter.

So much for "I'll play punter if they want me to..".

I guess talk is cheap.

J/C...

Hank fraley is our starting center, and there are no plans in the short term to replace him. Bently wanted to play center, but the Browns wanted to stick with Hank. Some on here speculated that maybe Handot might move to center, I think that can be dismissed also.

Hank doesn't get the credit I think he deserves. He is not a physical speciman, but he gets the job done. He manages to get to the 2nd level and always continues to block to the end of the play. He also is a team leader, and is definately the leader of the line. There is something to say for consistancy on the line. There is also something to be said for loyalty. Hank came in here and produced, saving the Browns from a terrible situation. He ended up staying, even when he had a chance to make more money.

I wish Bentley well, he went through a lot. He deserves a chance to make a comeback. The Browns are backing Fraley, and are doing the right thing by Bentley.