The Eagles will trade defensive end Michael Bennett to the New England Patriots, according to Jeff McLane and Adam Schefter. The Eagles will receive, according to McLane, a 5th round pick and a 7th round pick in 2020.
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Bennett, 33, said Friday on the NFL Network that he wants a pay raise.
"You always caught off guard when your name is brought up in the trade block or being traded but you understand that people want to acquire your services," Bennett said. "We in a tough situation as far as the salary cap. I'm not willing to take a pay cut. I actually want a pay raise at this point. I just know at this point whatever team I go to I want to get paid more than what I am getting paid right now."
Bennett has a 2019 base salary of $6.2 million, a cap hit of $7.2 million, and was under contract for 2020 at a $7 million base salary.
The NFL salary cap for 2019 is set at $188.2 million, and acording to OvertheCap.com, the Eagles had around $169 million in salary cap hits for their top 51 players for the 2019 season, before trading Bennett. Philadelphia will save $7.2 million on their cap with the trade.
Bennett was excellent for the Eagles in 2018, recording 9.0 sacks (second on the team) and 68 total pressures. Bennett's 68 pressures were 5th in the NFL last season. Bennett's salary for 2019 would have been the 21st highest among all NFL defensive ends.
On March 1st, the Eagles signed Brandon Graham to a three-year contract extension worth $40 million. Graham, a lifelong Eagle, has the seventh-most sacks (42.5) in franchise history and leads the team with 61 tackles for a loss and 12 forced fumbles since 2014. Although he is coming off of a down season statistically, where he finished just 4.0 sacks, Graham finished with 9.5 sacks in 2017 and was one of the best defensive ends in all of football.
