NFL Rumors: Seahawks won’t use franchise tag on Michael Bennett
By Mike Dyce
The NFL deadline for the franchise tag is later today at 4 p.m. ET. Teams are deciding whether to use the tag or not and one player who is reportedly not going to get hit with the tag is Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett.
From Pro Football Talk:
"Per a league source, the Seahawks won’t be applying the franchise tag to defensive end Michael Bennett. Which means that he’ll hit the open market, a year after signing a one-year, $5 million deal to join Seattle."
He certainly made a bold decision to play with Seattle under a one-year deal that has paid off huge for him. The Seahawks deciding not to tag Bennett makes some sense, that is the second most expensive position to tag behind only quarterback. Bennett would have received $13.116 million for one year if he was tagged.
The Seahawks don’t want to lose Bennett however and have eight days to work out a new deal before the free agency market opens and other teams begin bidding.