Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Patriots TE Martellus Bennett turned down a $7 million per year offer from the Patriots before the start of the 2016 season.
Rapoport expects extension talks between the Patriots and Bennett to resume after the season, but Bennett appears to be in line for a big payday next year.
A few weeks ago, Rapoport reported that the Patriots are making Bennett an offseason priority and want to lock him up to a long-term contract.
According to Rapoport, Bennett has been “everything the Patriots wanted” when they traded for him during the offseason. Bennett has fought through injuries for them this year and they plan to reward him with a new contract in the coming months.
Bennett, 29, is a former first-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2008. He spent four years in Dallas before joining the Giants as a free agent. The Bears later signed him to a contract only to trade him to the Patriots in return for a fourth-round pick.
Bennett is in the final year of his four-year, $20.4 million contract that included $5.215 million guaranteed. He stands to make a base salary of $5.085 million for the 2016 season.
This year, Bennett has appeared in 11 games and caught 42 passes for 540 yards receiving and four touchdowns for the Patriots. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 7 tight end out of 63 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 30 – 2017 Free Agents list.
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