Michael Bennett: “I Probably Won’t Be Back” With Seahawks

Seahawks veteran DE Michael Bennett tells Gregg Bell of the News Tribune that he “probably won’t be back” with Seattle next year.

“Just seems like it’s a young man’s game. I can see them going younger, with younger players,” Bennett said. “That’s part of the game.”

There has been a lot of speculation in recent weeks about major changes coming to the Seahawks, particularly on the defensive side of the ball, given that they have some aging players that carry high cap figures.

According to Bennett, it won’t be surprising if the team makes a lot of changes next year.

“I expect there to be a lot of changes,” Bennett said. “Especially when you lose, there’s always changes. … Like I said, it’s a young man’s game. We lost a lot of players, and we’ve seen some of those great players, when those young people got in the game they had to be prepared. So I could see trying to get those guys going and seeing what happens.

“With me, I’m fine. I mean, whatever happens, I’ve loved being a Seahawk. … You love the organization. You love the players that you played with. We’ve won a lot of games. So if I am not here I would never have any hard feelings toward the organization. I love Pete Carroll and (general manager) John Schneider, and we just move forward. It’s part of football.

“This is just part of sports. It just keep growing and you continuously play for another organization, if you have the opportunity.”

Bennett, 32, began his NFL career with the Buccaneers and spent four years in Tampa Bay before signing on with the Seahawks as a free agent back in 2013. Seattle signed him to a new four-year, $39 million contract that included $17.5 million guaranteed last year.

Bennett stands to make base salaries of $1.5 million and $6 million over the next two years of the agreement.

According to OverTheCap.com, releasing Bennett would free up $2,025,000 of available cap space while creating $5,212,500 in dead money. However, if they designate him as a post-June 1 release, those figures improve to $5.5 million in cap savings and just $1,737,500 in dead money.

Entering today’s game, Bennett had appeared in 15 games for the Seahwaks and recorded 39 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and a pass defense. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 39 edge rusher out of 109 qualifying players.

We’ll have more regarding Bennett and the Seahawks as the news is available.