Trade alert! The Seahawks are sending defensive end Michael Bennett and a seventh-round pick to the Eagles for a fifth-round pick and wide receiver Marcus Johnson, sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Facebook link). Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter) first reported that Bennett was Philadelphia-bound. 
[RELATED: Seahawks To Also Part Ways With Richard Sherman?]
Bennett has been the subject of trade speculation for months now and the Falcons were among the teams to express interest in acquiring him recently. The return for him may seem underwhelming given his ability, but his market was suppressed by his contract, which still has three seasons and $26MM left.
The Seahawks’ loss is now the Eagles’ gain. Bennett didn’t have his best season in 2017, but he did earn a third Pro Bowl nod as he registered 8.5 sacks. His inside pass rush ability helped to propel Seattle to the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons and he’ll look to do more of the same for the defending champs. The Eagles project to start a defensive line of Bennett, Cox, Derek Barnett, and Brandon Graham, and that’s as good of a D-Line as you’ll find in the NFL.
After acquiring Bennett, the Eagles may explore a potential trade of defensive end Vinny Curry, Schefter tweets. The Eagles like Curry, but his cap number for 2018 is a bit too pricey given their limited amount of room.
The Bennett deal opens up roughly $2.2MM in cap space for the Seahawks, though they’re still saddled with about $5.2MM in dead money. The trade also helped Seattle escape the $3MM bonus he was due later this month and freed them of the future seasons left on his deal. The Eagles now assume that contract, which has Bennett under control through the 2020 season.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks gain an insurance policy in the event that Paul Richardson leaves in free agency. Given the buzz surrounding him, it’s very possible that they’ll lose him on the open market. Enter Johnson, who has posted a 40-yard-dash time of 4.36 seconds in the past. He doesn’t have a stat line that comes close to Richardson (he had just five grabs for 45 yards last season), but his speed could allow him to fill a similar role in Seattle.
Good job falcons, way to choke again
So basically Philly traded Johnson and Tobin (who was sent to Seattle last off-season with a 2018 7th for a 2018 5th). That’s pretty damn good
The on-field fit for the Eagles makes sense, but this makes it significantly tougher for them to get back under the cap and that’s why this doesn’t seem to make sense to me. I don’t know the exact numbers so I might be slightly off, but even if they dump Curry, they’d pretty much just break even financially.
I thought I read somewhere that this will actually save them $2.5 million. with even more potential for savings if they can move or restructure Curry’s deal
I thought I read somewhere that this will actually save them $2.5 mil, w/ the potential to save more if they trade or restructure Curry’s contract
I mean if that’s the case then there’s no downside to them making this move
The move is not a cap hinderance, at least not for this coming season. I think it’s a strong trade.
The rich get richer
so nice to finally be one of those “rich” teams
I’m sure. Wish my broncos could be like that
That’s a weak return
This deal doesn’t really make a lot of sense for the Eagles in my opinion reasons why 1. Cap room 2. You were already set in your front 7 even without Curry its a top 5-10 front seven. 3. Goes with 2 but they’re losing Robinson and need another starting caliber corner yes they have Sidney Jones I think he’s gonna be great but he’s unproven and coming off a huge injury I’m telling you right now you put him out there with an elite QB they will test him. I don’t know if he’s ready for that
I’m pretty sure a GM that built a team back up after Chip Kelly gutted it and just won a Super Bowl knows a liiiiiiittle better than you do
This is a comment section, nothing says people can’t say anything because the GM probably knows better. What a useless comment you made.
You don’t have to be a GM to understand they had a great front 7, are in salary cap hell, there was at least one way to spend the money better
From a football standpoint, Bennett replaces Curry, and likely will get a contract that lowers the cap number Curry was scheduled for. They’ll get a similarly skilled (maybe better, but older) player and save cap space. The fact that it’s Michael Bennett…ugh.
I agree with you Clark, they have serious cap issues and holes that need to filled. To add to a stacked position doesn’t make sense when it means you have to dump guys like Peters, Celek etc…
Peters isn’t good gm anywhere.
This move doesn’t hurt the cap actually. His number for next year is way lower than what they’d have to give up on the free agent market. Curry will either restructure his deal or be gone (via trade, ideally, but potentially release if no one bites.) Either way, the line could/should be even better next year.
Re: corners…consistent pressure up front helps every DB. Starts up front.
*going anywhere. That was a doozy of an autocorrect.
They won a championship who cares
he played a game this year against dallas and they refused to throw his way…..and he was covering dez Bryant…soooo
I like what the Seahawks appear to be doing, never one to have a bunch of cap so they’re getting rid of the older guys taking up a lot of space hopefully to go after younger guys and keep that window open for at least a couple more seasons
They are 9 M over the cap before this move. No they are like 18 over? I think this may be a sign Peters is out, Curry was already going to go, Celek will need to take a pay cut.
So what if they’re $9M over? They have many ways to save cap space. Torrey Smith is $5M, trading/cutting/restructuring several players including Foles, Peters, Cox, Kendrycks, Celek, etc. When all is said and done Eagles will probably have $15M or so in overall cap space
Philly adds about $5.6 mil to the cap issues they already had, so it doesn’t double from $9 to $18 mil
This is just one of the many ways Howie turns mid round picks into gold. Give it time, he’ll get them under the cap with an even better team then last season. And every GM will be jealous.
Seriously Philly won that trade. Seattle got pretty much nothing in return. Guess they just wanted him gone
I also think the Eagles are making a move to get Sherman as well.
Why would they get Sherman? They already have too many corners, and Sherman is on the downside of his career.
They already have a corner coming back from a torn Achilles. But Jones will be 22, Sherman will be 30. Go with youth. They have 4 corners than can play already.
I disagree. Well, of course they can play. But I do think Cornerback was the weak spot on a strong defense. They could improve there. I do really like the young CBs such as Mills, Douglas, and Jones. And i love Robinson as a nickel. But I’d take Sherman over Darby for sure.
What do you think?
Where does Jernigan come into play?
I wouldn’t mind the eagles getting Sherman. But I don’t want them to let go of Robinson. I hope they explore trading Darby if they are serious about Sherman. I would think they would do just that. Keep Mills, Robinson, Jones and Douglas.
Robinson is as good as gone, he priced himself out of being affordable given their cap issues.
I disagree. I think he’s priced himself higher, but not out. If Howie wants him, he’ll sign him and make it work. Back heavy contract, bonuses, etc etc. Could easily get under cap with just a few moves. Losing good players, but Howie could also do exactly what we don’t expect like the Bennett move. Anything could happen and I think he’s got a ton of options. But keeping Robinson could be easily done if he so chooses.
It won’t be as easy to bring back Robinson as you seem to think. While he was a good contributor, and the Eagles have a very deep team, they aren’t without holes. They should have other priorities well ahead of a slot corner. OL, LB, TE should all out-rank the need to allocate resources to a guy like Robinson. Take the year he had, be glad it was in an Eagles uniform, and move on.
Looking good for Robinson to return. Really happy if it gets done. I think he belongs here, and just as important it keeps him from possibly getting signed by the Giants.