By PFW staff
June 11, 2008

LeCharles Bentley

If C LeCharles Bentley is to complete a remarkable recovery from a serious left knee injury — and complications from a staph infection suffered during a surgery to repair the knee — it will be somewhere other than Cleveland. The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported Wednesday that Bentley had requested and received his release from the Browns. Bentley, 28, had missed the last two seasons and was expected to be, at best, a backup at center and perhaps guard, but he made it clear Tuesday that he wanted to be a starter, whether it be in Cleveland or elsewhere.

"LeCharles came back to Cleveland to be an integral part of the Cleveland Browns, his hometown team,'' Bentley's agent, Jonathan Feinsod, told The Plain Dealer. "Through no fault of the Browns at all, they didn't know if LeCharles was going to come back or not and they moved on with their plans. But this is not the same team LeCharles signed with. They have commitments to other players. LeCharles is not ready to be an insurance policy at this point."

Bentley has 57 career starts and two Pro Bowl appearances to his credit. The Browns signed him to a lucrative six-year contract in March 2006, but he never played a down for the club after suffering the injury in his first training-camp practice.

The PFW spin

A robust market for Bentley is unlikely to develop, given that he expects to start but has not played an NFL down since 2005. But he does have a few factors working in his favor. He passed the Browns' physical earlier this week, for one. Also, coaches and evaluators around the league have told PFW that standout centers are few and far between at this time. Two teams that may be tempted to give Bentley a look are Cleveland's AFC North rivals, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, as both have somewhat unsettled situations at center.

When healthy, Bentley was one of the few stars at his position. Various reports from Cleveland's camp suggested he had spent plenty of time in the weight room as he recovered from his injury, so upper-body strength does not appear to be an issue for him.

But whether his knee can hold up remains to be seen.

The Browns would have welcomed a healthy Bentley back into the fold, but it's hard to blame them for cutting ties with a player who could have been a distraction and would likely have served, in a best-case scenario, as a backup to C Hank Fraley. They have built up their O-line depth in the last two years. They will withstand this loss.

This caps Bentley's disappointing homecoming. He had always dreamed of playing for the Browns, who believed he would be the anchor of their O-line for years to come. But it was not to be.