[Rapoport] Marty B wants to keep playing

[ctpatsfan77]

 

[RobertWeathers]

I don't know what Rapofart is smoking. His $6.2 cap hit is bad.

Hes not a 800 snap TE anymore (at least here).

His cap hit should be 1/2 that.

 

[Sciz]

He’s not getting that bonus. Maybe it makes sense for both sides to agree to delay the bonus until August or just add it on as salary, but I expect that he’ll just be cut and they can renegotiate a new deal from there.

 

[NEFAN]

Marty and Gronk! Let's go!

 

[Joey007]

If he either takes a paycut, or if Gronk retires, then welcome back Marty.

Otherwise I don’t see it if one of these two things doesn’t happen.

 

[Bradyking12]

Restructure the beast!!!

 

[scott99]

Dump Allen, keep Bennett.

 

[maust]

It's not that Bennett isn't worth the money IF he plays. Incentive based contract built around availability/snap % and everyone is happy.

 

[TBR]

It's not that Bennett isn't worth the money IF he plays. Incentive based contract built around availability/snap % and everyone is happy.

Yup, I was about to comment the same thing. Hopefully they can both agree to an incentivized deal.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

It’s really difficult to find a TE who can block and catch well. Bennett’s health concerns me, but if he’s healthy I don’t see why the Patriots wouldn’t consider him at his current price. They could also do a one year extension to spread out the cap hit. I don’t know why anyone thinks MB will just gladly restructure - and make less guaranteed money - for the love of the team. He has leverage here, too. The Patriots can cut him and risk losing him to another team.

 

[TB_Helmet]

I don't know what Rapofart is smoking. His $6.2 cap hit is bad.

Hes not a 800 snap TE anymore (at least here).

His cap hit should be 1/2 that.

Agreed, that's a head scratcher. 6.2m for your TE2 is a lot, especially when we're worried about losing Lewis, who will probably make less than that. I doubt Bennett comes back for more than a 3m restructured deal.

 

[Soliel]

I’m hoping they keep him around. Better than Allen. Good gronk insurance.

 

[patfanken]

Allen has value as a plus blocker, and in the past has shown that he CAN catch the ball well enough to be a quality #2 TE threat. That being said, he is the one who needs to do some restructuring before the season if he wants to stay in NE.

As for Marty B..... I'd love to have him here, but only if he does a major restructuring where that .$6.3MM can only be reached through incentives. For example, $2MM signing bonus, $1MM in salary, and $4+MM in incentives based on snaps and production. Put that in a contract with a phony baloney 2nd year to spread the signing bonus and you're done.

Of course, if Gronk goes to the WWE, then you simply pay Marty the money on his contract. So 3/14 becomes the deadline for Gronk to make a decision. BTW- if Gronk is going to the WWE because he wants to save his body, he'd better take a closer look at what pro wrestling does to the bodies of its athletes

 

[Bourne Again Christian]

San Fran maybe all over Bennett since Jimmy G can vouch for him.

 

[mgteich]

If Gronk isn't expected to be 100% for 19 games, we should keep Bennett.

If Bennett is healthy, and the patriots should know, then $2M plus workout bonus buys a 2018 option on Bennett.

The alternative is to give up rights to Bennett and to negotiate with him.

Finally, it is certainly possible that a deal could be signed before March 14. However, I do NOT expect a huge reduction in pay, although there could be a cap reduction on a new 2-year contract.
=====
BOTTOM LINE
If Bennett is healthy, this is very good news for the patriots. I suspect that a new contract with a $2M signing bonus is very possible.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

It's not that Bennett isn't worth the money IF he plays. Incentive based contract built around availability/snap % and everyone is happy.

Except perhaps Bennett. Given his history elsewhere, there's a potential concern that he may go off if he's on the bench and it's costing him money.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

San Fran maybe all over Bennett since Jimmy G can vouch for him.

They had their chance to claim him off waivers after they acquired Jimmy G and chose not to. So I'm not sure what's different now. They could have established trust and interest with Bennett by claiming him and then placing him on IR, but they didn't.

 

[mgteich]

He’s not getting that bonus. Maybe it makes sense for both sides to agree to delay the bonus until August or just add it on as salary, but I expect that he’ll just be cut and they can renegotiate a new deal from there.

Any new contract would include a bonus to paid at the time of signing.

 

[mgteich]

They had their chance to claim him off waivers after they acquired Jimmy G and chose not to. So I'm not sure what's different now. They could have established trust and interest with Bennett by claiming him and then placing him on IR, but they didn't.

???
bennett is under contract to the patriots. SF couldn't claim him.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

???
bennett is under contract to the patriots. SF couldn't claim him.

Bennett is with the Patriots because they claimed him off waivers in November. The 49ers could have done so, and had higher waiver priority at the time, so they would have been awarded the contract. Jimmy G was already on the 49ers then so could have vouched for him at that time (Chris R's point in his original message). His 2017 cap charge post-waiver claim was minimal.

So what's changed that would cause the 49ers to want him now (assuming the Pats cut him) versus not claiming him then?