LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- The Chicago Bears waived running back Cedric Benson on Monday. Benson played in 35 regular season games for the Bears over the past three seasons with 12 starts. He was originally acquired in the first round of the 2005 draft.

"Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate," General Manager Jerry Angelo said. "As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to understand the importance of 'team' will not play for the Chicago Bears."

Benson was arrested on Saturday on drunken-driving charges in Austin, his second arrest in just more than a month.

Benson's attorney said the former Texas star had had a few drinks with dinner but didn't think he was intoxicated and cooperated with police.

Still, attorney Sam Bassett acknowledged, "He's probably in trouble with his team for breaking curfew and having anything to drink under the circumstances."

Authorities said Benson was arrested early Saturday after he failed a field sobriety test. The former first-round draft pick was charged with driving while intoxicated and released on bond.

The arrest comes a month after Benson was charged with boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest. He has said neither charge is true, and those cases are pending.

Austin police spokeswoman Veneza Aguinaga said Benson, who was pulled over for running a red light, refused to take a breath test or provide blood samples Saturday.

Bassett said Benson thought the light was yellow when he went through around 2 a.m., though he stopped immediately when police appeared. Bassett said Benson told him he wasn't speeding or driving recklessly.

"He doesn't feel like he was intoxicated," Bassett said. "He said he had two or three drinks the whole night with dinner."

Bassett said Benson's girlfriend was with him at the time. The two had dined at a Japanese restaurant earlier. The running back was in Austin for his mother's birthday this weekend, Bassett said.

Benson was a first-round pick in 2005 and started 11 games last season. Three weeks ago, he took part in voluntary spring workouts in Illinois, lining up in the Bears first-team backfield.

He has a June 30 court date for the May 5 arrest while operating a 30-foot boat on Lake Travis near Austin. Authorities say he resisted arrest and had to use pepper spray to subdue him; Benson has denied he resisted and says officers used excessive force.

In 2003, Benson was sentenced to eight days in jail on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after forcing his way into an apartment to look for a reported stolen TV.

Larry Fitzgerald says he doesn't want to leave Arizona. The Cardinals say they don't want him to go.That, however, is an awful small plot of common ground in negotiations between two sides that seem to agree on little else.

The restructuring of Fitzgerald's contract appears no closer to fruition than it was a month ago, and the rumblings of frustration are growing within the organizationWithout a contract agreement, a day of reckoning is coming for the Cardinals.

They are going to face the prospect of trading Fitzgerald or losing him a year from now, when they might have to cut him rather than pay his 2009 salary of $17.4 million.

So far, both sides are saying all the right things. The Cardinals insist Fitzgerald will play for them in 2008, even at a salary of $14.6 million. Fitzgerald's agent, Eugene Parker, said team officials have reassured him that Fitzgerald is going nowhere, even if a new deal isn't reached.

That hasn't prevented other teams from trying to trade for him. The Eagles have talked to the Cardinals about acquiring Fitzgerald, with cornerback Lito Sheppard and receiver Reggie Brown rumored to be part of the offer