Amid conflicting reports of what happened Saturday night – Benson says he was roughed up, police say he was cocky and insulting – the Bears will assuredly be weighing their options of what to do with him.

One option that they won’t have is deciding if Benson will be suspended or not. NFL Sheriff…er…Commissioner Roger Goodell has already demonstrated his intolerance for players screwing up. A four or eight-game suspension certainly wouldn’t be out of the works.

If Benson were to miss the first half of the season, his already dwindling chances of repeating his stint as starting running back would go down the drain. Rookie Matt Forte was impressive at rookie training camp over the weekend and it seems the collective preference in Bears fandom is for Forte to start.

In regard to yesterday’s post where I wrote Benson’s release was coming soon; well, it’s just not going to happen. Benson will not, I repeat, will not be released. This year anyway.

Per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Sun-Times, cutting Benson before June 1 would cause a $6 million cap hit. Even if the cut was made after June 1 or recorded in the books as a post-June 1 cut, the Bears would still take a $2.5 million cap hit.

So, what do the Bears do with Benson?

If it’s found his version of the story was correct, he’ll be given the opportunity to compete with Forte for a starting job. If the boat police were in the right, however, Benson will be used sparingly this year – probably as a short-yardage back – and then shopped in the offseason to the lowest bidder.

Let’s hope he is telling the truth.