Howie Roseman jettisoned Michael Bennett to New England in the same fashion that he received him a year prior, via trade for late round draft picks. The Eagles dealt Bennett to the New England Patriots a few weeks ago in exchange for a 2020 fifth-round pick. Pundits and critics around the league have wondered why Roseman made the move for weeks now, and on Monday at the NFL Annual Meeting’s in Arizona, the Eagles GM did his best to explain the logic.
Roseman spoke about the huge multi-year contract that defensive end Brandon Graham signed. Add the acquisition of Malik Jackson in free agency and the team bringing Vinny Curry back from Tampa Bay, Bennett’s time had evaporated.
“For us when we looked at the decisions we had to make on the defensive line, a lot of money involved in those decisions when we re-signed Brandon Graham and had an opportunity to get compensation for Michael and also add Vinny back,” Roseman said. “We just thought it was a good decision for us going forward.”
Bennett was among the league’s top edge rushers last season and added nine sacks on the season as well.
“Teams are forced to get rid of good players,” Roseman said. “The nature of the game is you have to make these tough decisions and Michael is part of that.”
The Eagles will likely address adding a pass rusher and more defensive line depth via the draft, with the team preparing to go with Derek Barnett, Graham, Fletcher Cox, Malik Jackson, and Chris Long, for now.
