Philadelphia Eagles: Understanding Michael Bennett’s situation

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett wants a raise. Now, he’s guaranteed to get traded or released sometime soon.

Why is Michael Bennett all of a sudden out on the Philadelphia Eagles? Where did his interest in getting a pay raise come from? Bennett is set to make $6.2 million in 2019, with a cap hit of $7.2 million. Although Bennett was on a short list of names who could potentially become a cap casualty, it was unlikely that he would get cut. Now with the sudden news that Bennett wants a raise, the Eagles aren’t budging. At this point, it’s trade or release for Bennett. And just like that, his short, one-year stint with the Eagles is over.

Some may call Bennett selfish for his thoughts. Others will say that he deserves the raise that he’s asking for. In all reality, it doesn’t matter. The Eagles not only don’t want to give Bennett a raise, but they actually asked if he could take a pay cut. Now, there are no other reports out there that other veterans on the team were asked to do so. So why just Bennett?

Bennett’s frustration is warranted…

Let’s understand his frustration for a second. Michael Bennett was clearly the best pass rusher on the Eagles last season. He led the team in total sacks with nine. That’s one-half of a sack less than Brandon Graham’s career-high, which he achieved a season ago. In 2018, Graham finished with only four total sacks. Although he intended on hitting the Free Agency market, the Eagles did right by Graham by offering him a three-year, $40 million contract.

Although Graham’s yearly salary has yet to be released, we’re under the assumption that Graham’s new contract will be getting him more than Bennett. As Bennett sees the Eagles offering Graham a raise, it makes sense that he would feel like he deserves one as well.

Instead, the Eagles asked Michael Bennett to take less, when Chris Long is on the opposite side with less production, snaps, and the same age of 33-years-old with a cap hit of $5.6 million. Yet, it doesn’t seem like Long will be taking any cuts either, which sort of raises some eyebrows.

Now comes the interesting part. Not only are the Eagles asking for a pay cut from Bennett, but they also intend on letting him go back to being a second-string defensive end in 2019. With Derek Barnett expected to come back, it’s more than likely that Bennett takes a backseat to the three-year veteran, which could be frustrating. Bennett dealt with fewer snaps reasonably well last season, but he didn’t truly break out until Barnett’s season-ending injury occurred.

Have we seen the last of Bennett?

If Bennett sees a situation where he could get more money in a role that has him more involved, why wouldn’t he go for it? He’s not getting any younger. At 33-years-old, Bennett is most likely in search of the final contract of his career. Although he’s made it known that he would like to stay in Philly, he doesn’t want to do that if he is taking a lesser role, with less money.

He’s not being selfish. He’s just playing his cards right and giving himself leverage. The Eagles are a very loyal team, but at the end of the day, this is a business. Bennett has earned just as much as Graham in 2018, but the Eagles will not honor that. It’s unfortunate, but this is they it’s going to go down. Now, we can expect a shakeup as Bennett is expected to be elsewhere sooner than later.