[vincesanity82]

Bears RB Cedric Benson, who underwent surgery Thursday to repair the fractured leg, could miss out on nearly $4 million in bonuses and escalators in his contract. Had he been more productive earlier in the season, or had he been injured a week later, he likely would have earned a sizable windfall. But by finishing the season with 674 rushing yards, Benson fell 27 shy of triggering a conditional roster bonus worth $1.73 million. While some already have labeled the No. 4 overall pick in 2005 a bust, the king's ransom he has received has been exaggerated. Even if he returns healthy in 2008 and jump-starts a career that looked to be stalling before he was hurt, Benson never will approach the $29.96 million maximum value of his five-year rookie contract. -- Chicago Sun-Times

A costly injury for Benson :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Bears

[Weird harold]

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see anyone get hurt ever, but this is great news. The offensive line could be a whole lot better, but Benson clearly is not the running back he was in college, not nearly good enough. This means the Bears have more money to pay a running back, that will help this team.

[Seahawker 562]

Originally Posted by Weird harold

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see anyone get hurt ever, but this is great news. The offensive line could be a whole lot better, but Benson clearly is not the running back he was in college, not nearly good enough. This means the Bears have more money to pay a running back, that will help this team.

true. It is good news, in a bad way.

[azrael492]

I can't believe that as bad as he has been he was close to incentives. The Bears must have pretty low expectations.

[Weird harold]

Originally Posted by azrael492

I can't believe that as bad as he has been he was close to incentives. The Bears must have pretty low expectations.

703 yards a year is a lot, considering that when they wrote the contract, the Bears still had Thomas Jones, and the guy who wrote the contract would never guess that the Bears would get rid of Jones.

[Gotham Dark Knight]

That's the problem with incentive clauses in a game riddle with injury and dependency on 10 other guys doing their job...it is not a good thing to sign them...Edgerrian James learned that the hard way, as did Ricky Williams early on his career.