Bengals Cut Willie Anderson

Unwilling to take a pay cut, Willie Anderson has instead been released by the Cincinnati Bengals. And Anderson saw this coming:

"They wanted me to take a pay cut," he said. "I wouldn't do it."

Said Anderson, "I pretty much knew they would do it. I just didn't know it would go down like this. I was blind-sided. They were forcing me to make a decision in 24 hours."

Anderson was a rock during the lean years ... as well as the recent "good times" ... in Cincinnati. He started 116 consecutive games for the Bengals and was the longest tenured player on the roster. He is tied for sixth all-time in games played in franchise history.

The writing was on the wall of sorts after Anderson had his consecutive games streak ended due to injury last year. The team also used the franchise tag on Anderson's backup, Stacey Andrews, in the offseason ... leaving Anderson as the odd man out on the line.