Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The Patriots lost a premium pass rusher in free agency, so they traded for his replacement.
And because they have a good idea what Michael Bennett can bring, they’re willing to wait for him.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the Patriots have excused the veteran pass-rusher for the first three days of training camp for what director of player personnel Nick Caserio called “personal reasons.”
“Michael has been great to work with, so we’ll leave it at that,” Caserio said when pressed on what was keeping Bennett away. “I really don’t want to get into it any further.”
The Patriots acquired Bennett in a trade with the Eagles, after they lost Trey Flowers in free agency to the Lions.
Flowers led the Patriots last year with 7.5 sacks. The 33-year-old Bennett had 9.0 sacks for the Eagles last year.
Bennett didn’t attend the voluntary workouts this offseason, but was on hand for mandatory minicamp, saying he was excited for the “opportunity to play with so many great players on defense.”
While he might not have expected the trade, most veteran players warm to the idea of playing for a contender.