Image via TMZ in case that's not clear.

Last week it was reported that eventual free agent running back Cedric Benson was arrested for beating up his roommate, Clavens Charles, after an argument on the street. As you can tell from the image above, “beating up” may be a tad understated. Regardless, Benson claimed that he acted in self-defense after the two started fighting over their living situation.

According to TMZ:

Clavens claimed he and Benson “began to talk and argue about their living arrangements when all of the sudden Clavens was struck on the left side of his face with a closed fist thrown by Benson.”

“Clavens went on to say that Benson continued to strike him with several more closed fists all over Clavens face resulting in severe injury to his face.”

Clavens told police he was experiencing “severe bleeding from the mouth, possible loss of teeth and massive swelling of the left cheek.”

I’ve had some pretty nasty arguments with my roommates in the past, but holy sweet fancy goodness, man. That’s some serious conflict resolution right there. Benson was released on $10,000 bail and the Cincinnati Bengals were quick to point out that he used to play for them and this was not their problem, despite the lockout and that whole not being able to talk to him rule.

Needless to say, Charles is suing for damages, and his lawyer claimed that he’s already racked up thousands of dollars in bills. Benson should be able to swing the fees, since there should be a team willing to take a chance on a solid RB with anger issues and a violent criminal past. So we’ll see Benson next year in… Cincinnati.