Griffen, like Bennett, was due to be an unrestricted free agent Tuesday, and generally was ranked behind Bennett on the list of potentially available defensive ends. NFL.com, for instance, slotted Bennett eighth on its list of the top free agents (and third among DEs) with Griffen at 19th (and fourth among DEs).
Griffen, who played at USC for Pete Carroll, is almost exactly two years younger than Bennett (Bennett will turn 29 on Nov. 13) but the two have fairly comparable stats of late (each has had 17.5 sacks the last two seasons).
So expect that Bennett and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, will examine this deal closely — which calls for $27 million over the first three years — and will want something similar, if not a bit more.
