Pats bid adieu to TE Bennett
Move saves $6.2M in cap space
For the second straight year, the Patriots are bidding farewell to Martellus Bennett.
The team released the tight end yesterday after he played in two games last season following his arrival on waivers from Green Bay.
Bennett was set to earn a $2 million roster bonus on March 14. The Patriots will save $6.2 million in cap space by releasing him.
The Patriots also cut defensive end Caleb Kidder and receiver Bernard Reedy.
And the team informed defensive lineman Alan Branch that it will not pay a $1 million roster bonus next week.
Branch was a healthy scratch throughout the playoffs and planned to ask for his release anyway.
Bennett was a familiar face in New England, after catching 55 passes and seven touchdowns for the team in 2016, when he was part of the squad that won Super Bowl LI. He left for the Packers as a free agent after that.
Last year he caught six passes for the Patriots when he returned before shoulder and hamstring injuries forced him to injured reserve.
Flores takes over
Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores will be Matt Patricia’s replacement, in duties anyway, if not in title.
The defensive coordinator position will likely remain empty next season, a tactic Bill Belichick has employed in past years when a coordinator departed. Patricia left last month to be the Lions head coach.
Flores will now learn from Belichick for a year then likely get the defensive coordinator title next year, a source said.
Patriots players hoped Flores would get this promotion and this move will be well-received in the locker room.
Flores is well-regarded around the league, and his profile could continue to grow. He interviewed for the Arizona Cardinals’ head coaching vacancy earlier this year.
Jones pays up
Jerry Jones agreed to pay the NFL more than $2 million in legal fees resulting from two disputes the Dallas Cowboys owner had with the league, a person with direct knowledge of the settlement tells The Associated Press.
The amount to be paid was resolved yesterday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL did not announce details.
Commissioner Roger Goodell held an appeal hearing with Jones on Monday. That came a few days after Goodell assessed the financial penalties for Jones’ lawsuit to overturn the suspension of Cowboys star running back Ezekiel Elliott, and for a lawsuit Jones threatened to stop Goodell’s newly approved contract.
Eagles deal for DE
The Philadelphia Eagles acquired three-time Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Bennett from the Seattle Seahawks, three people familiar with the trade told The Associated Press. The deal won’t be officially announced until the NFL’s league year opens next Wednesday.
Seattle gets wide receiver Marcus Johnson and a fifth-round pick, while Philadelphia also receives a seventh-round pick . . . .
The Los Angeles Rams have agreed to trade linebacker Alec Ogletree to the New York Giants for two draft picks, a person with knowledge of the deal told the AP.
Los Angeles gets the Giants’ fourth-round and sixth-round picks in the 2018 draft. The NFC West champion Rams also will send a seventh-round pick in 2019 to the Giants along with Ogletree, their defensive captain and last season’s leading tackler.
Replacement rings
The Washington Redskins will present replacement players from 1987 with Super Bowl rings.
The team said it would honor the work of the replacement players who went 3-0 during the NFL strike. Washington went on to finish 11-4, win the NFC East and beat the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl . . . .
The Detroit Lions hired former Patriot Steve Gregory as a defensive assistant coach on head coach Matt Patricia’s staff.
Gregory began his coaching career in 2015 as a special teams quality control coach at Syracuse, where he played wide receiver and cornerback from 2002-05.