CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Bengals waived defensive tackle Matthias Askew on Tuesday, one of five players on the team accused of breaking the law
in the past three months.
A 2004 fourth-round draft choice out of Michigan State, Askew
has been plagued by injuries.
"He wasn't going to make our football team at this point,"
coach Marvin Lewis said. "It's an opportunity for Matthias to
catch on with another team. Other guys were playing better."
Askew was charged last month with resisting arrest, obstructing
official business and two parking violations. Cincinnati police
said a dispute broke out over his illegally parked car, and the
6-foot-5, 302-pound lineman struggled with officers trying to
handcuff him and broke away before being shocked with a stun gun.
Askew, the first of the Bengals with legal problems to be cut,
pleaded not guilty and his attorney said police overreacted.
Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry has been arrested four times
since December. He is set to stand trial later this month on a
gun charge in Orlando, Florida.
Rookies Frostee Rucker and A.J. Nicholson had been arrested
before signing -- Rucker for spousal battery and Nicholson for
burglary and grand theft.
Starting left guard Eric Steinbach was arrested earlier this
month for operating a boat while under the influence of alcohol
and ignoring a "No Wake Zone" area.
Aside from those arrested, Bengals middle linebacker Odell
Thurman, a second-round pick last season, is suspended for the
first four regular-season games for violating the NFL's
substance-abuse policy.
And the Bengals selected linebacker Ahmad Brooks in the
supplemental draft last month after he was kicked off Virginia's
football team for disciplinary reasons.
The Bengals also waived center Jesse Boone and acquired
defensive tackle Daniel Watts as an international practice squad
player. Boone had joined the Bengals on May 5 as a college free
agent from the University of Utah.
The 6-6, 283-pound Watts is from London. He played the last two
seasons for the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe. International
practice squad players are allotted to teams in two divisions every
year, on a rotating basis.
Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report.