Michael Bennett is over that whole being a Seattle Seahawk thing.
Bennett, according to a report from Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, citing multiple sources, has notified the Seahawks that he would like to be traded to the Atlanta Falcons.
Oh, and he'd like a new contract too, please.
The 29-year-old Bennett just completed his seventh NFL season and second with the Seahawks after initially entering the league with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent.
The 6-foot-4, 274-pound Bennett finished last season with seven sacks, 38 tackles, one forced fumble and 11 stuffs in 16 games in the regular season. He added another nine tackles and two stuffs in three postseason games.
In his first season with Seattle, after being added late in the 2013 free agent process along with Cliff Avril, Bennett recorded 8.5 sacks, 31 tackles and one forced fumble in the regular season. He was a force for the Seahawks in the playoffs en route to their Super Bowl victory, contributing 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Falcons have, of course, long sought a consistent pass-rush. The days of John Abraham terrorizing opposing quarterbacks are long gone.
The Falcons finished last season second-to-last in the league in sacks, with just 22 for the year.
Kroy Biermann nabbed 4.5 sacks, Paul Worrilow added two of his own and Joplo Bartu and Dwight Lowery had one a piece.
Not exactly a murderer's row of sack specialists.
With Bennett's former Seattle defensive coordinator, Dan Quinn, now the head honcho in Atlanta, Bennett apparently sees an opportunity for a mutually beneficial reunion.
The team already added Adrian Clayborn, Bennett's former Seattle teammate O'Brien Schofield and Paul Soliai this offseason in order to beef up their defensive line. Clayborn has posted 7.5 and 5.5 sack seasons thus far in his career, but has also missed most of two seasons due to injury, so the team can't depend on him to be a main cog.
Schofield has operated almost solely as a backup throughout his career and topped out at 4.5 sacks in the 2011 season.
Soliai is a space eater and block occupier that's never posted more than two sacks in a season.
The addition of Bennett, were it to happen, would be a big upgrade on what the Falcons already have in place and would ostensibly allow Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff more flexibility entering the 2015 NFL Draft.
Whether it, in fact, happens, remains to be seen, but at least Atlanta knows Bennett wants to Rise Up.
Oh, and get paid too.
