On Wednesday, the Seattle Seahawks said goodbye to defensive end Michael Bennett when they traded him to the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. With star cornerback Richard Sherman likely done in Seattle as well, Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril opened up about the changes being made lately in an interview on NFL Network with Andrew Siciliano and Michael Silver on Thursday.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this dramatic,” Avril said. “You’ve seen it with the coaching staff a little bit. But I didn’t expect this many guys to even be considered to be leaving. Some of these guys have been playing at a high level for a long time. And to kind of see this playing out the way it’s playing out right now is, again, interesting. We’ll see how it plays out, though.”
As for Avril's future in the NFL regarding his health, he is supposed to meet with a doctor to see if his neck has healed properly. Back in October during a win over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday Night Football, Avril was lost for the season and eventually had to have neck surgery.
“It's still up in the air, honestly,” Avril said. “Actually in the next few days, I'll know a little bit more. I'm going to meet with my surgeon here in the next couple of days. Once I meet with him, we'll kind of figure things out and see how it plays out. Hopefully the Seahawks still want me and hopefully I can play. We'll see.”
During the 2016-17 season, the 31-year-old defensive end had 11.5 sacks and made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career. In five seasons with the Seahawks, Avril has racked up 34.5 sacks and has made 143 total tackles.
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