Adam Schefter: Bennett to command $6.5 - $8 million annually

You can hear him at the 3:50 mark here:

http://mynorthwest.com/category/pod_pla ... nd%20Danny

Sounds like speculation on Schefter's part, but obviously he rubs elbows with execs so he's probably not off by much if any.

It was rumored (unsourced, unsubstantiated) that Bennett turned down a Paul Kruger-type deal from Seattle that would have paid him $8 million a year.

Anyway, this isn't exactly concrete info, but if true this is good news. Based on this information it does not sound like Seattle is low balling Bennett, more that they are being the good guys and letting Bennett establish his value, just as they did for Big Red and Mebane.

I would tend to lean towards the 8m side of that speculation. IMO Bennett is thinking north of 8.

I'll feel a lot better if Bennett walks if it comes out that we gave him a legit offer. I have no problem with him going elsewhere for max dollars if someone wants to overpay him. If he takes an offer elsewhere that's only like 3% more than what we offered him, though, I'd be kind of annoyed.

Can't wait to see what happens either way.

This is pretty good news, even if it's speculation. If execs start hearing a certain range enough, maybe it will resonate with them.

I'm with you Roland. I'd be pretty annoyed as well if Bennett came out and said he wanted to be here, and then takes marginally more money to go elsewhere. I also think that Bennett provides good value at 8 mil/year.

I've got no problem if he goes elsewhere for a nice bump above our offer, just for the record.

IMO, that's the correct market for him. I've kept saying that Clemons' deal was the right price for him. Personally, I think this fanbase is overrating his value across the league significantly. He's a GREAT, GREAT piece for our defense, but not a great fit for others. That drives down his market price.

He was the same player last year, and now people are saying he's worth DOUBLE? You have to realize that teams have scouts assigned to every team. It's not like Michael Bennett was a complete mystery man last off-season. He played above his contract, yes, but doubling his market value from last season is absurd.

Cliff Avril was 26 last off-season, had a longer history of success as a pass-rusher, could probably play a 3-4 OLB, and was rated by many as the best pass rusher available. He got $6.5M/year.

DavidSeven":3ulbtdbj said:

IMO, that's the correct market for him. I've kept saying that Clemons' deal was the right price for him. Personally, I think this fanbase is overrating his value across the league significantly. He's a GREAT, GREAT piece for our defense, but not a great fit for others. That drives down his market price.

He was the same player last year, and now people are saying he's worth DOUBLE? You have to realize that teams have scouts assigned to every team. It's not like Michael Bennett was a complete mystery man last off-season. He played above his contract, yes, but doubling his market value from last season is absurd.

Click to expand...

Agreed. He should be worth a little more because last season he had concerns over the 1 year wonder label and his injured shoulder, but in terms of how good of a player he is that hasn't changed much.

If Michael Bennett is a top tier pass rusher, I'm still stuck on $7.55 million as his maximum.

In Seattle, Michael Bennett is a two down lineman in my eyes.

The franchise number for a 3 down top 5 defensive end is $11.175 million. Two thirds of that is $ 7.550 million.

That's the value number I see for Michael Bennett ............ $7,550,000

Click to expand...

kearly":wwfkpakw said:

DavidSeven":wwfkpakw said:

IMO, that's the correct market for him. I've kept saying that Clemons' deal was the right price for him. Personally, I think this fanbase is overrating his value across the league significantly. He's a GREAT, GREAT piece for our defense, but not a great fit for others. That drives down his market price.

He was the same player last year, and now people are saying he's worth DOUBLE? You have to realize that teams have scouts assigned to every team. It's not like Michael Bennett was a complete mystery man last off-season. He played above his contract, yes, but doubling his market value from last season is absurd.

Click to expand...

Agreed. He should be worth a little more because last season he had concerns over the 1 year wonder label and his injured shoulder, but in terms of how good of a player he is that hasn't changed much.

Click to expand...

He hadn't really proved his pass rush inside before...atleast not that I recall, and that boosts his value quite a bit IMO.

kearly":394sdqty said:

DavidSeven":394sdqty said:

IMO, that's the correct market for him. I've kept saying that Clemons' deal was the right price for him. Personally, I think this fanbase is overrating his value across the league significantly. He's a GREAT, GREAT piece for our defense, but not a great fit for others. That drives down his market price.

He was the same player last year, and now people are saying he's worth DOUBLE? You have to realize that teams have scouts assigned to every team. It's not like Michael Bennett was a complete mystery man last off-season. He played above his contract, yes, but doubling his market value from last season is absurd.

Click to expand...

Agreed. He should be worth a little more because last season he had concerns over the 1 year wonder label and his injured shoulder, but in terms of how good of a player he is that hasn't changed much.

Click to expand...

True, and that's a fair argument for vaulting him from a one year/$5M avg. player to a multi-year/$7-8M player. I figure that has to be the sentiment around the league. Of course, it only takes one team to "Kruger" him and offer a deal that no one else was even close to offering. Luckily, it doesn't look like Seattle will be that team since MB has opted to test free agency.

RolandDeschain":cnp3cumm said:

I'll feel a lot better if Bennett walks if it comes out that we gave him a legit offer. I have no problem with him going elsewhere for max dollars if someone wants to overpay him. If he takes an offer elsewhere that's only like 3% more than what we offered him, though, I'd be kind of annoyed.

Can't wait to see what happens either way.

Click to expand...

My exact thoughts. I think Kearly is probably near the mark Bennett is hoping for that 10 and we offered 8. Someone with more money then sense might step in but we're not out of it by any means and I believe San Francisco is just a figment being used to drive the price up not a legitimate player.

Meeker":rocyuofc said:

kearly":rocyuofc said:

DavidSeven":rocyuofc said:

IMO, that's the correct market for him. I've kept saying that Clemons' deal was the right price for him. Personally, I think this fanbase is overrating his value across the league significantly. He's a GREAT, GREAT piece for our defense, but not a great fit for others. That drives down his market price.

He was the same player last year, and now people are saying he's worth DOUBLE? You have to realize that teams have scouts assigned to every team. It's not like Michael Bennett was a complete mystery man last off-season. He played above his contract, yes, but doubling his market value from last season is absurd.

Click to expand...

Agreed. He should be worth a little more because last season he had concerns over the 1 year wonder label and his injured shoulder, but in terms of how good of a player he is that hasn't changed much.

Click to expand...

He hadn't really proved his pass rush inside before...atleast not that I recall, and that boosts his value quite a bit IMO.

Click to expand...

The report on Bennett was that he could effectively rush from both the inside and outside when we signed him last year. TB used him as primarily as a DE, but he was considered stout and effective from the inside when given opportunities. IMO, that's why it made sense to pair his signing with Cliff's. I think everyone was expecting MB to be that Jason Jones-type inside rusher before he even put on our colors.

Of course, he made a stronger case for his effectiveness inside with the Seahawks, but I don't think this was necessarily a revelation to anyone. The thought was always that we were going to use him on the inside -- Clem and Cliff on the ends.

This is the correct range for Bennett, at some point he'll see the advantages of signing here if this is range of contract the team has offered. This contract range is fair...

We need to let this play out w/o fretting about it. I'm betting we will sign Bennett we didn't offer him a fair deal w/o any reason. He just wants to see if he can do better. Remember we have Washington's zero salary tax advantage going for us here.

DavidSeven":3762snfi said:

The report on Bennett was that he could effectively rush from both the inside and outside when we signed him last year. TB used him as primarily as a DE, but he was considered stout and effective from the inside when given opportunities. IMO, that's why it made sense to pair his signing with Cliff's. I think everyone was expecting MB to be that Jason Jones-type inside rusher before he even put on our colors.

Of course, he made a stronger case for his effectiveness inside with the Seahawks, but I don't think this was necessarily a revelation to anyone. The thought was always that we were going to use him on the inside -- Clem and Cliff on the ends.

Click to expand...

Showing it when given opportunities and displaying it over a large sample size is a considerable difference in contract size, at least IMO.

Clem collected 11, 11, 11 sacks before signing his extension
Avril collected 8.5, 11, 9.5 sacks before signing a 2 year deal with the Hawks

MB collected 1, 5, 9 before signing his 1 year deal with the Hawks

Hey, MB should hit the open market and see if a team is willing to meet his demands. I'm just trying to level set expectations because while this isn't Costco, he's no Clem or Avril.

Yet he wants more money?

Just say'in.

Thing is he actually fits better here and as such may be worth a bit more to us. His pressures come reliably from either the edge or better from the inside.

If I'm the Seahawks I offer Bennett a 4 year $30 million dollar contract with about $14 million guaranteed, and I structure it so that there is at least $6 million against the cap this season. I'm thinking $7.5M signing bonus. Would look like this:

Year Base Bonus Cap Hit Dead Money Cut Savings

2014 3.500 (G) 2.625 6.125 14.000 -7.875
2015 5.200 2.625 7.825 7.875 -0.050
2016 4.500 2.625 7.125 5.25 1.875
2017 6.300 2.625 8.925 2.625 6.300

Essentially means we can't cut him for two years, and he wouldn't count more than $8M against the cap until the final year of the deal (and if we did decide to cut him then we'd re-gain $6.3 million on the cap, with only $2.625 million in dead money). He averages $7.5M per year, and even if he only plays out the first two years of the deal would make $19.2 million, or more than $9.5 million per year.

EDIT: When I first wrote this post all the numbers were spaced out nicely and it was much easier to read. Sorry about this, but not sure how to prevent the jumbling you see above.

Thoughts?

truehawksfan":399t09ox said:

Clem collected 11, 11, 11 sacks before signing his extension
Avril collected 8.5, 11, 9.5 sacks before signing a 2 year deal with the Hawks

MB collected 1, 5, 9 before signing his 1 year deal with the Hawks

Hey, MB should hit the open market and see if a team is willing to meet his demands. I'm just trying to level set expectations because while this isn't Costco, he's no Clem or Avril.

Yet he wants more money?

Just say'in.

Click to expand...

You realize the names Avril has played with his whole career? He's had great DL's in Detroit and now here, something Bennett did not get to capitalize upon. The only point you proved is that Clemons did more with less than either of them. Avril is on a prove it deal just like Bennett, when that is up he'll be looking to make Costco look like Walmart. He turned down quite the extension in Detroit to test FA but his reputation (vs. the run and disappearing in games) meant his market dried up. He does and will continue to look unstoppable in the spot that Carroll got 9 sacks out of Bruce Irvin in 2012. Irvin had less talent on the injury riddled 2012 DL to work with as well.

Meeker":duj3kq21 said:

He hadn't really proved his pass rush inside before...atleast not that I recall, and that boosts his value quite a bit IMO.

Click to expand...

He's always been a good inside pass rusher, but it's true that he has the stats to back him now, and he didn't as much last year.