After a dominating tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, Michael Bennett was finally released as the franchise retools for the 2018 season. It didn't take long for a number of suitors to pop up, with Bennett eventually deciding to sign with the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
The 32-year-old defensive end joins one of the NFL's strongest defensive lines that features a star-studded cast of Brandon Graham, Chris Long, Derek Barnett, Fletcher Cox, Tim Jernigan, and now Haloti Ngata. As a result, Bennett believes the Eagles can boast one of the best defensive lines in NFL history in 2018. From ESPN's Tim McManus:
“I think it can be one of the greatest. I think we can have one of the greatest defensive lines to ever play the game if we approach the game like every single way, just go out there and keep doing what they're doing and just finding a way to just add and keep showing how many great players [we have].”
Despite dealing with injuries throughout 2017, he had the most snaps (931) of any defensive lineman on the Seahawks and almost 300 more than any on the Eagles (663). As McManus notes, that will drop in Philadelphia given their surplus of talent on the edge. This should hopefully allow Bennett to remain healthy and prolong his career as long as he wants to remain active.
During Monday's press conference, Bennett also called out the other three starting quarterbacks in the NFC East. More from McManus:
“I know Eli Manning is probably watching this and thinking … yes, I'm coming. I know Dak [Prescott] is watching this like, ‘Yeah, he's coming.' Yeah, I am,” Bennett said at his introductory news conference Monday as a member of the Eagles. “And Alex Smith, he knows he can't run from me. I told him in the Pro Bowl.
“It's definitely going to be a great season, and it's going to be fun to be out here and be able to chase quarterbacks.”
The rich got richer in Philadelphia with the addition of Bennett this offseason, and Manning, Prescott, and Smith better be ready.
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