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Seahawks’ Michael Bennett is officially holding out

By Paul Novak

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Speaking at a dinner for his foundation to fight childhood obesity on Friday evening, Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett admitted that he is staying away from team activities and is hoping for a restructured deal with the team.

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Pretty much since the offseason began, there have been rumors swirling thanks to a tweet from a Texas-based reporter that Bennett was unhappy with the Seahawks and wanted to either be traded, or make more money.

Bennett himself denies ever asking for a trade but has recently made it very clear that he wants to be among the highest paid players at his position.

The 4-3 defensive end that also plays tackle currently earns roughly $7 million per year on his 4-year, $28.5 million contract. $16 million of which is fully guaranteed. That places Bennett near the 14th spot in terms of average yearly earnings at his position.

Arguably the best Seahawks defensive lineman, Bennett is looking to be paid more along the seven or eight richest ends in the NFL.

"“Somewhere near the top seven at my position, top eight at my position,’’ Bennett said. “Not a lot of guys play inside and out (meaning both tackle and end). Not a lot of guys do what I do. So I feel like I should be somewhere near there.’’"

As Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times calculated, that would mean Bennett would need to be paid along the lines of $10 million per season.

"“I just want to be in the realm of the guys that play like me,’’ he said. “There are only so many guys that do what I do, and I would love to be like somewhere in there where they are at.’’"

John Schneider has had a policy up to this point of not redoing contracts that still had more than a year remaining. Bennett still has three years left on the contract that he signed a little over a year ago in March 2014.

As far as we can tell, Michael Bennett is going to hold out of all optional team practices as well as some mandatory activities depending on the amount of the fine.

"“I will miss whatever I can miss. Depends how much the fine is.’’"

With the timing of the holdout being so close to when he signed the contract, I doubt Michael Bennett expects to have much leverage in the negotiations with the front office. With Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner both needing to be re-signed to new deals, it’s unlikely that the payroll would allow an additional $3 million to be allocated to a player still under contract for three seasons.

If the issue continues to develop in a negative manner, I could see Seattle giving in and doing something similar to what happened with Marshawn Lynch last offseason when they gave him an additional $1 million for the upcoming season.

Next: Seahawks are Favorites to Win Super Bowl 50

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