Philadelphia Eagles trading for Michael Bennett well worth the risk
By Dan Parzych
In a move that seemed to come out of nowhere, the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to acquire Michael Bennett from the Seattle Seahawks.
Over the last few days, the Philadelphia Eagles have kept themselves busy with the 2018 NFL Combine officially in the books, as the team will have plenty of evaluating to do from now until the end of April to see which players deserve consideration for the upcoming draft. However, it looks like the Super Bowl champions have been keeping themselves busy as well when it comes to making trade moves, with Michael Bennett being the perfect example.
While talks have heated up as of late over the possibility of Bennett being on the trade market, a move involving the Eagles didn’t even seem to be part of the discussion, but it turns out the defensive end will be joining the champions for the 2018 season. Even more exciting, Philadelphia really didn’t have to give up that much to acquire Bennett, and despite how much of a headache he’s appeared to be at times over the last year or so, this move was well worth the risk for Doug Pederson‘s squad.
The fact that the Eagles only had to give up a fifth-round draft pick along with wide receiver Marcus Johnson to land Bennett is a huge steal to put Jim Schwartz‘s defense in even better shape heading into next year. Not only is Bennett coming off his third Pro Bowl in a row, but also the 23.5 sacks he’s recorded since 2015 is one of many reasons as to why there’s so much excitement in regards to this trade.
I'm told DE Michael Bennett is going to be traded to the Philadelphia #Eagles.
— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 7, 2018
Here it goes: Seahawks are trading DE Michael Bennett and a seventh-round pick to Eagles for a fifth-round pick and WR Marcus Johnson, sources tell ESPN.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 7, 2018
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From Seattle’s perspective, it’s easy to understand the team clearly needed to go through some changes after missing out on the playoffs last season for the first time in the Russell Wilson era, but this decision to move on from Bennett for such little in return is quite surprising. As long as Bennett continues to play at a Pro Bowl level, this deal could end up working wonders for Philadelphia, and what’s even more exciting is the former Texas A&M star still has three years remaining on his deal, meaning the Eagles don’t have to worry about a one-and-done situation in 2018.