The Seattle Seahawks are looking to get younger and less expensive on defense this offseason, so it wasn’t all that shocking that they traded Michael Bennett to the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday. However, they may have been motivated to deal the veteran defensive end for reasons other than money.
In his brief analysis of the trade, Albert Breer of The MMQB wrote on Thursday that Bennett had become “a problem” for the coaches in Seattle.
A player who isn’t quite what he was and picked his spots more than he has in the past, according to the three offensive coaches I asked about him. He was also a pain in the ass for the Seattle coaches. The good news? With the depth of the Eagles defensive line, Bennett will be more of a spot player there, and Philly’s locker room, on paper, is a good fit.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said something similar before Bennett was traded when he noted that the Seahawks are looking to “quiet things down” a little this offseason. Many thought that was a reference to Bennett’s work with social activism and the incident he claimed to have had with police in Las Vegas last year, but Rapoport insisted it was not.
Generally speaking, Bennett is an outspoken guy. You can see how his personality would be tough to manage in certain situations, and he was also guilty of throwing a pretty egregious cheap shot during a game late last season. All of that could have played a role in Seattle’s decision to move on from Bennett.
