Golden Tate recently expressed a willingness to accept a hometown discount to return to the Seahawks for 2014 and beyond, but fellow free agent Michael Bennett doesn’t sound as enthused about that idea. Noting on the NFL Network on Tuesday night that “this isn’t Costco,” Bennett suggested that, in his opinion, there’s “no such thing” as a discount in the NFL (link via ESPN.com’s Terry Blount).
“There is no discount really because you go out there and you don’t give a discount on effort,” Bennett said. “You go out there and you give the best effort every day and you fight for your teammates, and you want to be compensated for the way that you perform and the kind of teammate you are.”
While Tate’s stance may endear him more to Seahawks fans, it’s hard to argue that Bennett should give up his own potential payday, particularly coming off a Super Bowl season in which he recorded 8.5 sacks to go along with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. The 28-year-old was a key piece of the Seahawks’ defensive line, spending time both in the middle and on the end, while playing on a one-year, $4.8MM deal.
NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported earlier this month that the Seahawks were expected to re-sign Bennett, and ESPN.com’s John Clayton (video link) said today that the odds of the two sides reaching an agreement are still “pretty good.” But the Bears, who have Michael’s younger brother Martellus Bennett on their roster, are lurking as a potential bidder for the free-agent-to-be, and Clayton figures it’ll take at least a $6-7MM annual salary to lock up the elder Bennett.
In addition to attempting to re-sign 2014 free agents like Bennett and Tate, the Seahawks figure to explore long-term extensions for Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman this offseason. However, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, there have been no talks yet between Sherman and the team about a new contract. Florio points out that Sherman and his agent likely plan to let the club sort out this year’s free agents before pushing for a long-term deal.