FanHouse LeCharles Bentley

Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.

One year removed from a 10-win season, and on the heels of a four-win effort, owner Randy Lerner decided change was in order. He fired head coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Phil Savage and brought in Eric Mangini and George Kokonis.

If the first draft under the new leadership is any indication, the Browns will use the last weekend in April to restock the roster, and eschew high-priced, quick-fix free agents. The previous regime had a healthy mix of the two: Gary Baxter, Eric Steinbach, LeCharles Bentley and Donte' Stallworth were signed as free agents; Kamerion Wimbley, Joe Thomas and Brady Quinn were all high-round draft picks.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is right around the corner, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: A year ago at this time,Charlie Frye was the man. That lasted about 10 minutes into the Week 1 Steelers game before Derek Anderson came on in relief, and, well, you saw how things turned out. Anderson led Cleveland to 10 wins, and made the Pro Bowl, but faces pressure to exceed last year's surprising performance. I think he'll be fine, but if he falters, Brady Quinn will be eagerly awaiting his shot. Heat Index: 7

Running backs: Jamal Lewis was left for dead, at least in the professional sense, when the Ravens decided to "move in another direction" last offseason. Lewis signed a short-term deal with the Browns and proceeded to rush for more than 1,300 yards. He now has a new contract and will run behind one of the most underrated o-lines in the AFC. Heat Index: 7

Receivers: Prior to Donte' Stallworth putting out a hit on No. 1 wide receiver Braylon Edwards, these were some of the best pass-catchers in the conference. Actually, Edwards should be fine, and even with Joe Jurevicius on the mend, it's a talented group of big-play threats. And although he listed as a tight end on the depth chart, Kellen Winslow in No. 1A after Edwards. Heat Index: 9

We're just a couple of days into training camp, but already the signs about the Steelers center situation aren't good.

Apparently Sean Mahan and Justin Hartwig are engaged in a "heated battle" (Mike Tomlin's words) for the starting center job. Considering how bad Mahan was last year, if Hartwig can't clearly earn the starting job in short order, it's a sign more of Hartwig's inability than Mahan's ability. As mentioned here a couple of months ago, Hartwig is nothing special--he's pretty clumsy on his feet and struggled mightily at times last year.

Which is why this ESPN prediction is pretty interesting: AFC North blogger James Walker says he expects LeCharles Bentley to sign with the Steelers. Of course, Walker expects Bentley to play guard if he signs with Pittsburgh, but he is one last hope for Steelers fans who still remember what it was like when Pittsburgh was known for great center play.

There are a lot of questions about Bentley's health--he hasn't played a snap in two years, and he's coming off of a serious knee injury and a life-threatening staph infection. But he also is a former Pro Bowler who, if he can come back at 90 percent of what he was before the injury, could give the Steelers the upgrade that Hartwig may be unable to give. Pittsburgh would likely have to clear some salary cap room to bring in Bentley, but it's not like he's been turning down many multi-year offers, so he'll likely go for an incentive-laden deal.

There has been much gnashing of team among Browns fans about the whole LeCharles Bentley situation. The Browns signed him two offseasons ago, he promptly blew up his knee, and two years later, when he's finally healthy, Bentley asks -- and receives -- his release. It was all very confusing.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer's Terry Pluto does a wonderful job of recounting Bentley's stay in Cleveland, as well as explaining why things didn't work out.

Ultimately, there were countless reasons Bentley wanted out, from his mistrust of the team's medical staff after he came down with a staph infection, to being bothered that general manager Phil Savage didn't call him when he made his first trip to the hospital after the initial injury.

Pluto writes that the Browns, like everybody else, were shocked when Bentley asked for his release, but decided to honor his wishes instead of having an unhappy player in camp. (Just like the Bengals and Chad Johnson, except very, very different.)

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio admits this is just an educated guess, but he wouldn't be surprised to see LeCharles Bentley end up in Minnesota.

At first glance, it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. The Vikings have veteran Matt Birk at center. Birk may not be as good as Bentley was at his best, but then, Bentley's best was two missed seasons, a staph infection and knee injury ago. There's a pretty good bet that Birk is a better player than Bentley right now.

Florio agrees with that, but he still believes that the Vikings may sign Bentley anyway, because they don't appear to have any plans to bring Birk back in 2009 with a new contract. That may be true, but it's hard to believe the Vikings would be able to avoid a revolt if they replace Birk with Bentley this season. Birk is a veteran team leader and a guy who can help the Vikings win in 2008. At this point, Bentley is an complete unknown. If Minnesota was aiming to rebuild that could make sense, but it would be a very big risk for a team with serious playoff hopes.

And so ends LeCharles Bentley's forgettable two-year stint with the Browns. In 2006, Cleveland landed Bentley, then one of the best available free agents, to shore up a woeful offensive line, and during his very first practice, he blew out his knee. And we're not talking your average blowout, his knee looked like mashed potatoes for the first year after the injury.

He was finally able to pass a physical yesterday.

And today he's been released. Actually, Bentley asked out of his contract because he wants to be a starter. Due to the uncertainty of his return (at one point, there was some talk that his NFL career might be over), the Browns acquired Hank Fraley in 2006, and he's started every game since.

"LeCharles came back to Cleveland to be in integral part of the Cleveland Browns, his hometown team,'' said Feinsod. "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.''

If Bentley truly is fit enough to play, there will be interest in his services. He was one of the league's best centers before the injury. You'd have to think the Steelers, at the very least, did a double-take when hearing the news. Sean Mahan had a rough go of it last season, replacing Pro Bowler Jeff Hartings. But Pittsburgh signed Justin Hartwig earlier this spring, so you'd have to rule Bentley out. I think.

Hat tip: PFT

In a month that's been filled with bad news for Browns fans between the flooding stadium and the trouble getting the draft picks signed, this has to rank as some of the best news in a long, long time.

LeCharles Bentley is one giant leap closer to making one of the most miraculous comebacks in recent NFL history. The center has been cleared by his doctor to return to the practice field. Dr. Russell Warren's decision to approve Bentley's return is the biggest sign yet that Bentley will make it back from what was a once life-threatening staph infection.

Bentley's signed a six-year, $36 million deal with the Browns before last season. He was supposed to be the anchor of the team's offensive line, but he blew out his left patella tendon in the first practice of training camp. A subsequent staph infection left him so far away from the football field that returning couldn't even rank as a mild priority.

LeCharles Bentley, the Browns' top free agent signing before the 2006 season, has been rather tight lipped about his patella tendon injury and subsequent staph infection.

He's now offering a lot more details, and we've found out that the injury was both better and worse than thought.

It was worse in that Bentley almost had his leg amputated, and he says he was near death.

"At one point, I was so sick they weren't sure I was going to live through the night,'' Bentley said.

But after four surgeries, things are better than anyone believed. Bentley says he expects to be back on the field for the Browns when they open training camp. And he expects to be in the starting lineup against the Steelers on Sept. 9. It had been believed that Bentley was not only unlikely to play again this season, but he was most likely done as a football player.

If, and that's a big if, Bentley can return to his pre-injury form, he will be one of the better center's in the league. And he would help turn the Browns offensive line into one of the deepest in the NFL, with solid starters are four of the five positions and at least two projected backups who are former NFL starters.