The Seahawks are set to meet with Michael Bennett‘s agent early this week to discuss the defensive lineman’s desire for a new contract, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. Bennett, she hears (Twitter link), is seeking at least an extension that would put him in the range of the top six or seven defensive linemen in the NFL in terms of new money. 
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Bennett is entering the third season of a four-year, $28.5MM deal he inked with Seattle in March of 2014. The veteran has been pushing for a new deal ever since the spring of 2015 and one can’t help but wonder why Bennett agreed to such a team-friendly deal in the first place only to complain about it one year later. It’s not clear whether the Seahawks are willing to give him the new contract that he is seeking, but they are at least willing to hear him out.
Recently, CBSSports.com’s Joel Corry suggested a compromise in which the Seahawks could convert Bennett’s $1MM 46-man active roster bonus into base salary. However, Bennett’s team is looking for much more and I can’t picture that modest concession satisfying the Texas A&M product.
When it comes to yearly salary for 4-3 defensive ends, Bennett ranks 10th in the NFL behind Fletcher Cox, Olivier Vernon, Robert Quinn, Jason Pierre-Paul, Vinny Curry, Jared Odrick, Everson Griffen, Mario Williams, and Carlos Dunlap. Bennett’s $7.125MM AAV is also eclipsed by 3-4 DEs Muhammad Wilkerson, J.J. Watt, Malik Jackson, Cameron Jordan, Calais Campbell, Cameron Heyward, Corey Liuget, Mike Daniels, Derek Wolfe, and Jurrell Casey. When looking at all defensive linemen, Bennett is 27th in terms of average annual salary.
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