It’s no secret Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett is unhappy with his current contract. He’s now taken drastic measures in his quest to remedy this situation, firing agent Drew Rosenhaus, who is one of the powerhouses in the industry, per Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal:
Seattle Seahawks DE Michael Bennett has left Rosenhaus Sports. He is currently without an agent.
— Liz Mullen (@liz_mu11en) February 18, 2016
Before the 2015 season began, Bennett threatened to hold out of training camp as he was not satisfied with his salary. He ended up reporting and playing all year for the Seahawks, earning $8 million for his efforts (h/t Spotrac.com).
Furthermore, he’s slated to earn even less in 2016: $4 million base salary, $2 million in prorated signing bonus and another $1 million roster bonus for a total of $7 million against the cap.
And, while $7 million isn’t rabbit droppings, it is significantly less than the immense earnings of the other top defenders around the NFL. In terms of average salaries for the league’s defensive players, Bennett ranks No. 68.
This is nowhere near what he’s worth. If you were to objectively rank Bennett against the rest of the league, in terms of actual impact on the games, he’d likely fit somewhere into the top 15 on a conservative list, and it would be hard to argue he’s not a top-10 defensive star in this league.
It’s going to be interesting to see where he goes from here. Rosenhaus represents many of the top stars in the NFL, and he has a track record of getting some huge contracts out of teams. That said, perhaps with Rosenhaus out of the picture the Seahawks and Bennett could come to a more reasonable deal that works for both sides.