It looks like the Seattle Seahawks have found a trade partner for their defensive end Michael Bennett. The Seahawks were shopping Bennett around the league in the last couple of weeks, and according to ESPN‘s sources, they have traded the 32-year-old to the Super Bowl LII champions Philadelphia Eagles. Besides Bennett, the Eagles will also receive a seventh-round pick while sending a fifth-round pick and wide receiver Marcus Johnson in the opposite direction. The deal will be finalized on March 14, when the 2018 NFL season officially begins.
Michael Bennett has three years left on his deal, and trading him will save the Seahawks $5.2 million in 2018. The Eagles, on the other hand, will be $10 million over the salary cap and will have to trade several players in order to get under the cap until March 14. According to reports, the closest one to exit is defensive end Vinny Curry who will count $11 million against the team’s cap in this year. The Eagles were trying to reconstruct his deal, but with Bennett’s arrival, they will probably try and trade him.
After playing college football at Texas A&M, Michael Bennett signed as an undrafted agent in 2009 with the Seattle Seahawks in April 2009. He was waived by the Seahawks in October of the same year and signed with Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he played until 2012 before returning to Seattle for a second stint. He became a Super Bowl champion with the team in 2013 and was picked in Pro-Bowl three years straight, from 2015 to 2017. In 2017 season he recorded 40 tackles and 8.5 sacks, becoming one of 12 players who managed to have five or more sacks in last six seasons.
This might not be the only trade Seattle Seahawks will make before the start of the next season, since Richard Sherman, Cliff Avril, and Kam Chancellor are all reportedly available for trades.
