The Dallas Cowboys have often ignored veteran players available on the market, deeming them to be progress stoppers for the younger and cheaper labor already on the roster. That shifted last year when the team traded for two seasoned pass rushers who both were able to contribute immediately. The first was Robert Quinn. The second was the mercurial Michael Bennett.
The front office only had to part with a conditional late-round pick in the 2021 draft in order to secure his talents. Part of the reason the asking price was so low was likely behavioral, as he and the coaching staff of the New England Patriots didn’t seem to see eye-to-eye. The other part is the contract. Bennett’s deal was restructured to get him to free agency in 2020 shortly after arriving in Dallas, and once the new league year begins, he’s looking to return to the Seattle Seahawks.
From the horse’s mouth in a conversation with the Talkin’ Seahawks podcast, “I would love to end my career in Seattle. It’s not up to you, though. It’s up to the team.”
Seattle is where Bennett made his bones in the league. After being cast aside by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the defensive lineman terrorized the NFC West for half a decade, including two Super Bowl appearances and one title, before the team moved on.
His return to the Cowboys has never felt like a sure thing, though it seems less likely. When the Cowboys went to acquire him, he originally had another year remaining on his contract, but he and the club agreed to rectify that and make him a free agent following the 2019 season.
As such, Bennett will be a part of the 2021 compensatory pick formula should he find a new team for adequate money.
The defense will have to find another way to replace the production he provided, as he tallied four sacks in nine games to go along with eleven tackles for loss. He also contributed a myriad of pre-snap penalties that balanced out his positive efforts.
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