The Bengals recently waived running back Kenny Irons for the purposes of ultimately placing him on the injured reserve (technically, reserve/PUP) list.  But once he cleared waivers, the Bengals decided simply to sever ties with the 2007 second-round draft pick.

Irons blew out a knee during a preseason game last year.

The difference is that, by cutting Irons, the Bengals don’t have to pay his $370,000 salary in 2008.  However, he’ll be entitled to $275,000 due to the decision to release him while he was still not recovered from a prior season’s injury.

While we’re on the topic, we need to clear up the whole waived/injured concept.  It’s a tool for getting a player off the 80-man roster in the period before the initial roster cuts; the goal is to prevent the stashing of players on IR.

If, for example, the Bengals had placed Irons directly on injured reserve, he would have accounted for one of the 80 roster spots.  By exposing him to waivers first, the team wasn’t required to carry him on the 80-man roster once he landed on IR.

The rule applies, we think, to all players except vested veterans.  (We’re trying to confirm that.)  But while undrafted rookies routinely are waived/injured, no team in its right mind would expose a first-rounder with a season-ending injury to this procedure, because for truly good players another team would be happy to pick the guy up and hope to use him in the future.

For Irons, the Bengals’ decision likely means the end of the road.  Surely, the Bengals would have coughed up the extra $95,000 for 2008 if they’d believed that he’d be able to play in 2009.  (Then again, they’re the Bengals.)

UPDATE:  Maybe this video had something to do with the decision.