Seattle Seahawks wisely extend DE Michael Bennett
The Seattle Seahawks have wisely extended the contract for veteran defensive end Michael Bennett, a key piece of one of the league’s top defenses…
The Seattle Seahawks’ defensive dominance began after defensive end Michael Bennett signed a ‘prove it’ contract at one-year, $4.8 million back in 2013, and they promptly went on to dominate the Super Bowl that year.
Seattle rewarded him with a nice pay increase, a four-year contract worth $28.5 million in total money and $16 million in guarantees. The Seahawks have now upped the ante, keeping their stud defensive end on a three-year contract extension that will allow Bennett to earn roughly $10 million per season over the next three years, and through the age of 34-35.
#Seahawks have agreed to three-year contract extension with Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett, per source.
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) December 30, 2016
In Michael Bennett’s deal, he earns $16M in 2017 & $19M by Mar. 5 of 2018. His reps worked on it for months, cashed in huge before playoffs
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 30, 2016
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The money Bennett is now making, he has earned. At his age, this is a very comparable contract that Denver Broncos defensive end/edge rusher DeMarcus Ware signed when he came over from the Dallas Cowboys. At that time, Ware signed a three-year deal in Denver with essentially $30 million in total money, $20 million in guarantees over the first two seasons.
For Bennett, the guarantees wind up being roughly $19 million in the first two years, as Ian Rapoport pointed out.
The Seahawks have done a good job of keeping the core of their defense together, giving big money contracts to guys like Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, and Kam Chancellor.
This move takes one big name off the impending 2018 free agent list for Seattle, one that still includes tight end Jimmy Graham and the aforementioned Chancellor.