The toughest job for a team coming off a Super Bowl victory is keeping its core players with the team. We saw this last year with the Baltimore Ravens after salary cap issues meant that they had to cut some of their key contributors, trade some away, let others leave for other teams in free agency, and watched Ray Lewis enter into retirement.
For the Seahawks, however, it doesn’t appear as if this will be as big a problem. Today, the team announced that defensive end Michael Bennett has re-signed with the club on a four-year deal worth $28.5 million.
Bennett, 28, had a huge contribution to the Seahawks’ historic defense, putting up 8.5 sacks, 31 combined tackles, and a forced fumble. In the postseason, he put up 11 combined tackles, two forced fumbles, and 1.5 sacks. The pressure he generated from the defensive line gave quarterbacks fits all season.
Michael Bennett reportedly took less money by re-signing with the Seahawks than the amount teams such as the Chicago Bears were willing to offer him. We’ll see if this has an impact on contract talks with other core Seahawks in the future, but for now, it looks like Seattle has little problems in the offseason.
The Seahawks have also placed a second round qualifying offer on another key free agent, wide receiver Doug Baldwin meaning the team will have the right to match any offer sheet Baldwin signs and if they decline to match, they will be awarded the second round pick as compensation.
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(Stats via espn.com, source via @ProFootballTalk)
