Seahawks to Meet w/Michael Bennett's Agent About New Deal

This goes against their policy of not doing a deal 2+ years out, but I think it was wise to make an exception for Bennett. Just keep the guarantees low after 2017 so as to keep options open. I don't think Bennett would actually hold out but after last year it's wise to not take the chance. Good news.

kearly":2eblcxrw said:

This goes against their policy of not doing a deal 2+ years out, but I think it was wise to make an exception for Bennett. Just keep the guarantees low after 2017 so as to keep options open. I don't think Bennett would actually hold out but after last year it's wise to not take the chance. Good news.

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He's not going to get what he wants at his age but I agree w/you, this is an exceptional case.

Let's hope Kam doesn't start pouting now

Bennett has outplayed his contract. But that's a subjective statement.

There's nothing stopping another player from claiming he's outplayed his contract. "What, Bennett is a key member of the team, but I'm not?"

They moved a little money up for Marshawn. I hope that's what they do with Bennett too. Then next offseason make him one of the top 3 or 5 at his position for 2 years beyond his remaining year. That locks him up through the 2019 season. If he's healthy and productive at that point, see if he'll stay another year for a reasonable amount or let him cash in big one last time with another team.

"Bennett has outplayed his contract. But that's a subjective statement."

No offense but I don't get that statement. If anything it's an objective statement based upon his performance the last two years and what similar players are making.

dogorama":1v9dm4qq said:

"Bennett has outplayed his contract. But that's a subjective statement."

No offense but I don't get that statement. If anything it's an objective statement based upon his performance the last two years and what similar players are making.

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No offense taken.

My point applied to the following sentence that you didn't quote. Most, if not all of us, agree Bennett doesn't make as much as others playing at his level. I'm thinking about the next guy who walks into Schneider's office and says, "Hey, I outplayed my contract too. I want an extension." And John says, "We don't see it that way."

One side can say "nuh-uh" and the other side can say "uh-huh." To me, that's subjective. "Outplayed his contract" is too loosely defined to warrant breaking precedent.

We don't need to argue semantics. We both agree he deserves to be paid more. I just hope the FO doesn't change their model and give him an extension with 2 years left on his deal. The way they've done things has worked very well.

The Giants destroyed the market when they signed Olivier Vernon. Mark my words, that will go down as a top 5 worst free agent deal in NFL history. Not Haynesworth bad, but close.

I'm going to trust the F.O.

They got us a championship, and they are ultra smart.

Pull money in, extend new money on more years so it's a reworked contract with same money and a extension worked in and a signing bonus.

So not paying him more currently but extending him with a signing bonus to satisfy him and lock him up for more years.

I don't like the possible bad precedent this could set but I am trusting the F/O knows what it's doing.

Maulbert":3jwlkhk4 said:

The Giants destroyed the market when they signed Olivier Vernon. Mark my words, that will go down as a top 5 worst free agent deal in NFL history. Not Haynesworth bad, but close.

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Nope not even close, Jets destroyed the Market when they signed Joe Namath. It's been in high escalation mode ever since.

Set the stage for a bidding war and a way for guys to cut the throat of other teams many times. Hershel Walker was another contract that pushed salaries thru the roof not to mention his trade after he came into the NFL from the USFL, I don't even want to bring in the owner who was trying to play hardball with the NFL at the time.

The FO made an exception for Lynch and JS said that if anybody complained he could just say "You're not Marshawn Lynch."

I think he could easily do the same thing for Michael Bennett. Bennett does a lot of things for this Defense that would make it easy to say "you're not Michael Bennett" if anyone had a problem with it.

Keep him happy.

To pay Bennett what he is "worth" (or at least comparable to other d-linemen) he would need $15 mil a year type money. I highly doubt the Seahawks would go that high. But can they add a couple years at $12 mil a year and guarantee him $20 million? The Hawks will owe him $10 mil for the next two years so you would basically be looking around $34 mil for 4 years which is very reasonable for a lineman of his caliber. If he can keep playing at a high level that will be a bargain for the Hawks.

No idea how that would work with the salary cap though. Let someone else figure that out.

drcool":19hitwrk said:

To pay Bennett what he is "worth" (or at least comparable to other d-linemen) he would need $15 mil a year type money. I highly doubt the Seahawks would go that high. But can they add a couple years at $12 mil a year and guarantee him $20 million? The Hawks will owe him $10 mil for the next two years so you would basically be looking around $34 mil for 4 years which is very reasonable for a lineman of his caliber. If he can keep playing at a high level that will be a bargain for the Hawks.

No idea how that would work with the salary cap though. Let someone else figure that out.

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He's scheduled to make 4 mil this year. We have around 7 mil cap left. Every team holds onto 3-4 contingency money in case of injuries like last year when we signed many players off the street. Plus, we may still need to sign a veteran QB. Given that, even if we only gave him a couple of mil we are really pushing the envelope.

Bennett cannot compare himself to contracts that players 3-4 years younger than him are making. It is a real dilemma, in many ways he is more important that Kam was last year, his impact on the D line is that significant. On the other hand we thought the same of Lynch and that didn't work out well for us financially. I actually like your proposed contract a lot because it forces him to accept the deal he signed but also gives him much more financial security, a win-win situation.

He absolutely deserves more money, but it would be a mistake to give it to him.

There's really only two ways for this negotiation to go IMO:

1) '16 and '17 base or some portion thereof is converted to guarantees.

2) do the same thing but frame it as an extension with a player friendly signing bonus and very team friendly back end.

The Hawks could reasonably give Bennett another 4 million this year and be healthy under the cap (3 million wiggle still) and he'd still be underpaid, but it would surprise me if they did that.

Popeyejones":8b52w19d said:

He absolutely deserves more money, but it would be a mistake to give it to him.

There's really only two ways for this negotiation to go IMO:

1) '16 and '17 base or some portion thereof is converted to guarantees.

2) do the same thing but frame it as an extension with a player friendly signing bonus and very team friendly back end.

The Hawks could reasonably give Bennett another 4 million this year and be healthy under the cap (3 million wiggle still) and he'd still be underpaid, but it would surprise me if they did that.

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You absolutely could not give him 4 mil more this year, read my previous post.

dogorama":25jonjrb said:

You absolutely could not give him 4 mil more this year, read my previous post.

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you absolutely can, why do you think Bennet keeps calling Jimmy (and his 9mil fully deductible cap in the event of a trade) soft?

other options could be patrick lewis (1.6m) , hauschka (sacrilege! 2.7m), clemons (1.3m), and even Chancellor (5m) might be worth a look after last season's foobar.

To appease him this year they couldn't they just fully guarantee next year and circle back in the offseason to do an extension? That wouldn't touch this years cap, and he would have at least another year fully guaranteed ($9.5mil).

dogorama":1goi9b5t said:

Popeyejones":1goi9b5t said:

He absolutely deserves more money, but it would be a mistake to give it to him.

There's really only two ways for this negotiation to go IMO:

1) '16 and '17 base or some portion thereof is converted to guarantees.

2) do the same thing but frame it as an extension with a player friendly signing bonus and very team friendly back end.

The Hawks could reasonably give Bennett another 4 million this year and be healthy under the cap (3 million wiggle still) and he'd still be underpaid, but it would surprise me if they did that.

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You absolutely could not give him 4 mil more this year, read my previous post.

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Called signing bonus
Gives him money this year, spreads the cap hit