Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times has reported that as of March 7, 2013, Michael Bennett has probably played his last game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
"Probably" is always a precarious word in these situations. But the fact the Bucs elected to not use their franchise tag on Bennett in favor of second-year player Da'Quan Bowers.
Ultimately pointing to the fact the organization did not feel that Bennett was worth $11 million dollars a year. Which may be fair, seeing as Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com stated he thinks the defensive end should average between $5 million to $6 million per year.
The 27-year-old is currently coming off a career-high nine sacks in 2012, ranking 23rd-highest in the league. Not a far cry from the Atlanta Falcons' John Abraham, who ranked 19th with 10 sacks and was recently released from the team for cap purposes.
With Abraham's release, the Falcons pass rush, which was already one of the weakest in the league, may very well be the highest priority for general manager Thomas Dimitroff this offseason. That alone makes someone as young and talented as Bennett an exciting prospect.
But the fact he and his brother, Martellus Bennett, want to join the same team this offseason, should make Michael one of the Falcons' mostly heavily pursued free agents.
Comments