The New England Patriots have reworked Michael Bennett’s contract, according to ESPN’s Field Yates. The team has given him a two-year deal with a base value of $16.75 million which includes a $4 million signing bonus. That’s a sizable raise for the 33-year-old defensive end.
The move also creates $700,000 in cap space for the Patriots in 2019.
But New England must have had an idea that they’d sweeten his deal, if for no other reason than the fact that Bennett explained that he wanted more money before the Patriots acquired him in a trade. Bennett became available for a trade, because the Philadelphia Eagles seemed far more interested in asking him to take a pay cut.
“But I’m not willing to take a pay cut,” Bennett told NFL Network on March 8. “I actually want a pay raise at this point, and so whatever happens just to know that whatever team I go to I want to get paid more than I get paid right now.”
Bennett must be a happy man. And New England should be pleased to have him, too.
He joined the Patriots before the team watched defensive Trey Flowers depart in free agency. Not long after that, the Patriots cut Adrian Clayborn. That left New England bare at the defensive end position — and, surely, they were pleased to have acquired Bennett before Flowers’ departure.
Bennett’s deal is likely to make him one of the highest-paid defenders on the Patriots, putting him in the range of earnings with cornerback Stephon Gilmore, linebacker Dont’a Hightower and safety Devin McCourty. Perhaps that’s an indicator that New England expects Bennett will be a leader while providing significant production.
