Saying “every team here wants defensive ends who jump off the ball and D-linemen with quick hands,” Seahawks GM John Schneider indicated Thursday at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis that he knew the Seahawks had one in Michael Bennett and don’t want to lose him.
Bennett, a free agent who played end and tackle, was the most productive among the fleet of D-linemen that was a crucial part of the NFL’s best defense, leading to some speculation that the Seahawks will use the franchise tag before the March 3 deadline for the designation to assure Bennett’s return for the 2014 season.
“I don’t anticipate that, no,” Schneider told reporters at the annual event that began Thursday. “It’s a huge goal of ours to keep this team together as long as possible. There’s some tough decisions to be made. It’s about being a consistent championship team, not one that cruises in and cruises out.”
That suggests that the franchise tag’s one-year limit isn’t a viable strategy for Bennett, 28, a fifth-year veteran who had a team-high 8.5 sacks. A year ago, Bennett left Tampa to join Seattle on a one-year free agent deal for $5 million, which worked well in Seattle’s favor.
Media speculation has suggested that Bennett could be coveted by some teams for as much as $10 million a year for three or four years. In an interview earlier in the week on NFL Network, Bennett indicated he wasn’t in a mood to take less than market value, a hometown discount, to stay in Seattle.
“There is no such thing as discount,” he said. ” This is not Costco, this is not Walmart — this is real life. There is no discount, really, because you go out there and you don’t give a discount on effort; you go out there and you give the best effort every day.
“You fight for your teammates, and you want to be compensated for the way that you perform and the kind of teammate you are.”
Schneider said he wants back another free agent, WR Golden Tate.
“Golden knows where we stand,” Schneider said. “He knows how much we love him.”
Signing Bennett and Tate to bigger, multi-year contracts will have repercussions elsewhere under the team’s salary cap, which could force the ouster of highly paid vets such as WR Sidney Rice, TE Zach Miller and DE Chris Clemons.
2 Comments
That “this is real life” statement just gnaws at me and Bennett isn’t the first pro athlete to issue a statment of that nature. He’s paid millions to work half a year to play football. Say it like is, that its about the money. Don’t dress it up like it’s something else. Marshawn did an interview (shocking isnt it?) before the Super Bowl where he said despite the problems he had in Buffalo his NFL career has been superb. That if you want to talk about problems lets discuss not being able to put food on the table. He at least gets it.
That being said, IMHO Tate is more valuable to the team than Bennett. Especially considering Harvin’s health issues. Tate responded when Rice went out for the season. Bennett was a great addition for the club but he can be replaced. If possible I’d rather have both back but the club should not break the bank for one player. It’s about the team and I’d love to see them repeat and shut up the doubters who argue that if the Hawks played the Patriots or Colts in Super Bowl they’d have lost or if they played the Packers or Panthers in the NFC game they’d never have advanced. I’m curious if the team will franchise anyone also. Sounds like Schneider doesn’t want to however I don’t want a repeat of the Steve Hutchinson fiasco either.
As Seahawks GM John Schneider said ‘Where’d you hear that? Are you inside the Trust Tree?’ ;) They’ll get it hammered out ~ Have faith. They know what they’re doing :)