Seahawks news: Michael Bennett would read books rather than listen to Pete Carroll in meetings

Former Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett may not have taken head coach Pete Carroll too seriously during his time with the team.

Reading is by nature a harmless activity, but for Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Michael Bennett, it appears as though it was a major reason why his former employers, the Seattle Seahawks, had decided that they have had enough of him.

According to Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated during an appearance on 710 ESPN Seattle, Bennett said that he would normally flip through pages of a book while in a middle of team meeting because there was barely anything new for him to hear from whatever Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was going to say.

Via Brady Henderson of ESPN:

Interesting nugget from @GregBishopSI on @710ESPNSeattle: Michael Bennett told him he'd read books during team meetings last year because he'd already heard whatever Pete Carroll was saying. Helps explain why the Seahawks moved on despite minimal cap savings, solid production.

— Brady Henderson (@BradyHenderson) April 18, 2018

The Seahawks have seen some of their key defensive players in the past leave this offseason. Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is now a member of the San Francisco 49ers, while Michael Bennett was recently traded by the Seahawks to the Eagles, boosting the already formidable defense of the reigning Super Bowl champions. To hear Bennett tell stories like this about his time in Seattle paints a bad picture on how Seahawks players view Pete Carroll, who, despite steering Seattle to a Super Bowl win in 2014, is now facing criticisms from his former wards.

Sherman, for one, appeared on UNINTERRUPTED’s The ThomaHawk Show last month, and had this to say about his former mentor:

“His philosophy is more built for college, you know,’’ Sherman said. “You get four years, guys rotate in, rotate out.’’

Michael Bennett was traded last month to the Eagles along with a 2018 seventh-round pick for Marcus Johnson and 2018 fifth-round pick. In 2017, his last year in Seattle, Bennett had 8.5 sacks in 16 games played.

If anything, at least Bennett did something more productive when he's bored during team meetings — unlike James Harrison.