NFL's biggest anthem protester just got traded
Of the NFL’s most ardent national anthem protesters, few, if any, are more prolific than Michael Bennett.
Marcus Peters and Marshawn Lynch routinely sit for the national anthem, but seldom speak off the field about any social issues.
Bennett, who won a Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks, has never shied away from publicly speaking out.
Now, he will be speaking out across the country.
The Seattle Seahawks finalized a trade with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles that will send the outspoken Bennett out east, as reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The deal will send Bennett and a seventh-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for receiver Marcus Johnson and a fifth-round pick.
For the Seahawks, it marks an official end of an era.
Bennett’s skills as an interior and outside pass rusher were a pivotal part of Seattle’s talented defense.
Now there will be question marks up and down the Seahawks’ defensive line.
Bennett is gone, Cliff Avril is still a question mark after suffering a career-threatening neck injury, highly touted second-round pick Malik McDowell has yet to take an NFL snap after lingering ailments from an ATV accident, Sheldon Richardson is a free agent who may be priced out, and the team is placing a lot of hope in former draft bust Dion Jordan.
What was once one of the most fearsome and deepest units in all of football officially looks like a shell of its former self.
For the Eagles, the exact opposite is true. After a devastating defensive line helped paved the way for the team to its first Super Bowl win, Philadelphia now just got deeper.
Bennett’s skills have eroded as he’s gotten older. He will turn 33 next season. But he’s still effective in spurts and won’t be expected to carry a defensive line that features Fletcher Cox, Derek Barnett, Brandon Graham and Timmy Jernigan.
It is worth wondering for the Eagles if bringing in Bennett could affect the team’s obvious chemistry.
Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins has been the team’s most vocal social activist, but he opted to stop protesting the national anthem after the league agreed with the Players Coalition to donate $89 million to its causes. Bennett has given no such indications, and kept on protesting through Week 17 of the NFL season.
It’s also worth asking if Bennett’s addition to an already stout defensive line really moves the needle for the Eagles. They need far more help at linebacker and defensive back than they do in the trenches.
Bennett signed with the Seahawks as a free agent in 2013. He has notched 39 sacks over the last five seasons and has made the Pro Bowl in the last three.
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