February 22nd, 2012 
Matt Loede 
Posted in 
It sounds like the Bengals have already made up their mind about running back Cedric Benson, and he won’t be coming back to the cats in 2012.
Benson told Alex Marvez on NFL Radio that he and the Bengals haven’t talked about a new deal.
“We haven’t had any talks about a new deal, re-signing or anything like that to my knowledge,” Benson said. “I’m not sure where things are laying up there in Cincinnati.”
One could see the writing on the wall, as Benson’s role was greatly diminished in the Bengals final three games as the Bengals relied more heavily on the Andy Dalton-led passing game. Cincinnati (9-7) reached the playoffs but dropped its final two contests, including a 31-10 first-round loss at Houston in which Benson only received seven carries.
“I just think we didn’t stick with what the offense was built on,” Benson said Tuesday night. “Since I’ve been there the past four years we’ve ran the football to try and win games. Even when we had Carson (Palmer) and Chad (Ochocinco), we still kept a strong identity in the run game.
“I just feel we got away from it. We didn’t let that part of the offense grow the way it could have.”
