Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that the Seahawks won’t use their franchise tag on free DE Michael Bennett.
- Mike Garafolo mentions that the Jaguars and Raiders could be two teams to watch in free agency.
- Ian Rapoport adds the Bears to the list of teams likely to monitor Bennett’s market in the coming weeks.
This doesn’t come as a huge surprise given that Seahawks GM John Schneider told reporters a few weeks ago that he didn’t anticipate using the their designation Bennett.
Bennett previously mentioned that he wants to be “compensated with the top guys,” so it’s not going to be easy for Seattle to get him under contract in the next few months.
Bennett, 28, was forced to sign a one-year contract worth $5 million with the Seahawks, despite coming off of a decent 2012 season for the Buccaneers in 2012. The floor seemed to fall out of the defensive end market last year, which led to a number of players accepting limited contracts including: John Abraham, Dwight Freeney, and Shaun Phillips.
Bennett did his best to increase his market value this year by recording 8.5 sacks for the Seahawks defense. Pro Football Focus actually has had him rated as a top-10 4-3 defensive end for the past two years, so he has clearly earned a long-term deal.
We have him listed as the No. 5 player in our Top 50 Free Agents list.
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He woul fit the Raiders…I would love to see him Tuck Houston walker on the D line …I know that this Raiders will put a monster Defense this year …
Hoping Bennett and the Seahawks can work out a deal for years to come!
Agreed. He should be the top priority right now even if that means letting Tate go (whom I am also in favor of keeping). We should probably let Clemmons go too if it means keeping Bennet but I would like to keep Clemmons if we could find a way.