Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Packers’ grievance against TE Martellus Bennett to recover some of his signing bonus has failed, as Stephen Burbank dismissed the case on Tuesday.
Mike Florio explains that the Packers’ grievance failed because they waived Bennett and because he was later claimed off of waivers by the Patriots.
Burbank also determined that allowing the Packers to recover a portion of a signing bonus paid under a contract that is now held by another team would be inconsistent with the league’s waiver system.
The odds were against Green Bay, but they officially filed the grievance paperwork back in November.
The Packers paid Bennett a $6.3 million signing bonus as part of his three-year, $21 million contract. However, with Bennett playing seven games for them last season, the Packers were likely targeting the remaining $4.2 million that was prorated over the final two years of the deal.
Bennett had been dealing with a shoulder injury last year, but was eventually placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.
Bennett, 30, is a former second-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2008. He is entering the second year of his three-year, $21 million contract and stands to make a base salary of $5.65 million for the 2018 season.
The Packers elected to waive Bennett with a failure to disclose medical condition designation last year and he was later claimed off of waivers by the Patriots before eventually being placed on injured reserve.
In 2017, Bennett appeared in nine games and caught 30 passes for 286 yards receiving and no touchdowns for the Packers and Patriots.
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