Bears Trade TE Martellus Bennett & 6th-Rd Pick To Patriots For 4th-Rd Pick

Update:

The Chicago Bears officially announced their agreement with the Patriots that will send TE Martellus Bennett and a sixth-round pick to New England Patriots for a fourth-round selection.

#Bears' trade w/ Patriots now official. Bears send TE Martellus Bennett & sixth-round pick (No. 204) to NE for fourth-round pick (127th).

— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) March 17, 2016

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Adam Schefter is reporting that the Bears are trading TE Martellus Bennett to Patriots for draft-pick compensation.

• According to Tom Curran, the Patriots will give up a fourth-round pick and get back a sixth-round selection and Bennett as part of the deal.
• However, Curran adds that late-round compensation is still being worked out.

Ian Rapoport reports that Bennett had been available for trade for 18 months now, but there wasn’t a lot of buzz regarding a deal in recent weeks.

In fact, some thought the Bears could be forced to cut him loose at some point this offseason. However, the Patriots appear to be willing to give them a pick in return for a tight end to feature as their No. 2 option behind Rob Gronkowski.

Bennett, 28, 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.

According to OverTheCap.com, trading Bennett will free up $5.185 million in available cap space while creating $1.125 million in dead money.

In 2015, Bennett’s 2015 season comes to an end with him appearing 11 games and recording 53 receptions for 439 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 21 tight end out of 67 qualifying players.