Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson is looking for a new contract, and while the front office is willing to talk, Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that talks are in the preliminary stage.

Matt Bowen of the National Football Post thinks Benson hasn't yet earned the right to ask for a new deal:

"I usually take the player’s side when I write about contracts if they are productive," Bowen writes, "but unlike a Chris Johnson in Tennessee, Benson has done it for one year. That isn’t enough in my book to start asking for money."

Bowen adds that if Benson is productive late in 2010, and the team is contending, the path will be paved for talks on a new contract can begin. The issue I have with Bowen's analysis is that Benson has actually led the Bengals in rushing in each of the last two seasons, gaining 747 yards in 12 games (10 starts) after joining the team four weeks into the 2008 regular season.

With Carson Palmer injured, along with starting guard Andrew Whitworth, the Bengals had the NFL's 32nd ranked offense in 2008, and the league's 29th rushing attack. Those rankings could have been worse had Benson not posted back-to-back 100-yard games to close out the season, including a 171-yard performance against the Cleveland Browns in Week 16.

In the last 16 games Benson has been active, he's topped 25 carries and 100 yards eight times. Benson has produced 93 first downs on the ground for the Bengals over the last two seasons, and his 10 runs of 20+ yards were tied with Steven Jackson for the 6th most in the NFL in 2009.

If Benson is made to wait until late in the 2010 season before asking for a new contract, he's unlikely to get one. Benson will not only have added another 300-350 carries of wear and tear to his body, but he'll be asking for a contract in the same month (December) he turns 28 years old. There's no shortage of evidence for what happens to running backs with large workloads as they approach 30 years of age, and they are generally poor investments, contract-wise.

As I wrote in "The Rookie Sacrifice" post last month, players in the NFL are paid for what they're going to do, not for what they've done. Shaun Alexander's $62 million dollar contract aside, there are no golden umbrellas in the NFL.

Benson is expected to carry a heavy load for the Bengals this season, and if the Bengals don't want to increase his $2.65M base salary based on his age or track record, or would prefer to use those funds on a Jonathan Joseph, they won't get an argument from me. But June and July is the right time for Benson's agents to be seeking a new contract, especially if the notoriously stingy Bengals front office appears open to doing one.