Browns center LeCharles Bentley, who hasn’t participated in a practice or in a game since blowing out a patellar tendon in his first training-camp session with the team nearly two years ago, could be back on the field as soon as Tuesday.
Bentley reportedly will undergo a physical at the Cleveland Clinic on Monday. If he passes, he’ll be able to participate in the team’s mandatory minicamp, which opens on Tuesday.
Whether the team wants him there is a separate question. He has a $605,000 base salary for 2008, which is now the final year of his contract with the team. If he is cleared and then suffers a season-ending injury while practicing, the team will be on the hook for the full amount of the salary.
The Browns have moved on, despite giving big money to a guy who has to date contributed not a thing to the cause. If he can still play, however, there’s a chance that he’ll be given some work at right guard.
Bentley’s recovery from the torn tendon was marred by a staph infection. The problem was so bad that doctors at one point thought about amputating a portion of Bentley’s leg.
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June 9th, 2008 at 8:46 am
You’ve got to feel for the guy. He finally gets to play for the team he grew up cheering for, and suffers a freak injury (which there actually was NO contact, Florio. I watched it.) Maybe the problem was that he was treated at The Cleveland “Staph” Clinic?
Here’s to hoping that he can at least see the field again.
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June 9th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I (and a bunch of other people) am sooo glad Philly didn’t sign him that year.
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June 9th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Yeah, Johnny, hinsight’s at 20/20 is cool like that.
I hope he makes it. The guy was seriously gung ho to play in his hometown. Bentley did nothing to deserve his last few years of crap.
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June 9th, 2008 at 10:40 am
I agree with OCDawg. I wish LeCharles all the best.
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June 9th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
He was a heck of a player for the Saints. We hated to see him go and were just a little ticked off that he basically bolted to Cleveland as soon as he could. For the Eagle fans who are “glad” they didn’t sign him, just remember that even if he had been injured while with the Eagles he would not have been treated at the Cleveland Staph Clinic and would be a Pro Bowler for you as he was for the Saints.
I should wish him ill because of the way he left the Saints (basically bolted town and used the Eagles to set the market for the Browns), but I am not. Good luck LeCharles!
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June 9th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
overall though, lets be serious, what a massive dissapointment hes been for the browns. accident or not, thats turned out to be a really bad signing. we’ll see what hes got left in the tank.
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June 9th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
It’s not a bad signing because the guy got hurt. If he was hurt before he got there, it was a bad signing. Trust me as a Browns fan, the team has made PLENTY of bad signings over the years, but Bentley wasn’t one of them. He was the best OL in that year’s FA market (and one of the best in the league at the time,) and he got injured, and subsequently contracted a career-threatening (or ending, depending on how the physical goes) infection. Big difference between a bad break and a bad signing.
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June 9th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
What has been lost is gone and won’t come back, but that’s not a high base salary, especially for a potential starter, and not much to risk “being on the hook for.” If he can get to 90% of what he used to be, the Browns get a great deal (this year).
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