How Do Patriots, Michael Bennett Progress After Team-Issued Suspension?

The New England Patriots will be without defensive end Michael Bennett this week as they take on the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. It really won’t be that different than past weeks when Bennett was only playing a handful of snaps in the Patriots’ defense while active anyway.

The Patriots reportedly suspended Bennett one week for “conduct detrimental.” Bennett released a statement saying he had a “philosophical disagreement” with his defensive line coach Bret Bielema. The disagreement was over Bennett’s role, The Athletic’s Nick Underhill reported Tuesday.

Bennett only played 11 snaps last week, most of which came after the Patriots had a large lead over the New York Giants. He’s seen his snap rate decrease every game from 55.2 percent in Week 1, 40.3 percent in Week 2, 38 percent in Week 3, 30.4 percent in Week 4, 25 percent in Week 5 and 22 percent in Week 6. Obviously, he’ll play zero snaps this Monday night. The question now is whether his snap rate will ever go back up from zero in New England. Meaning, will Bennett now be released or traded?

Bennett has a $6.5 million cap hit, but they can’t free up that much space by cutting or trading him. They would free up less than a million dollars by cutting him and between $2.3 and $2.9 million by trading him, depending on when that potential deal would occur.

Over two million dollars in cap space isn’t an insignificant sum, especially if a guy doesn’t have a consistent role. Bennett figured to be a perfect fit in the Patriots’ defense capable of playing defensive end on early downs and rushing the passer as a defensive tackle in passing situations. Players like Jamie Collins, Kyle Van Noy, Dont’a Hightower, Adam Butler, John Simon, Lawrence Guy and Danny Shelton all are playing more defensive snaps than Bennett so far this season, however. The Patriots are using players bigger than Bennett on the defensive line and smaller linebackers on the edge. Butler is the defender primarily taking on the role expected out of Bennett.

Bennett has certainly still been useful. He has 2.5 sacks, four QB hits and three tackles for loss despite his reduced workload. But could that $2 million-plus be spent better elsewhere on a player who would play a bigger role on the 2019 Patriots? Could Bennett be shipped out of town for a wide receiver or tight end?

If a team has a player of use and are interested in taking on Bennett, then a trade could very much make sense. Outright cutting Bennett makes less sense because of the paltry amount of cap space that would be freed up. But if Bennett is rocking the boat too hard, it wouldn’t be a shocking move. The Patriots have made surprising mid-season cuts before. Cassius Marsh comes to mind in 2017.

A team-issued suspension isn’t necessarily an immediate death knell for a Patriots career, however. Defensive tackle Alan Branch was suspended by the Patriots in 2016 then he went on to play that season and another in New England. Branch’s career ended with a thud when he was inactive for Super Bowl LII, but the Patriots certainly still got some use out of him. Branch’s 2016 season was among his best in the NFL.

So, there’s still time to mend any potential fractures between Bennett and the Patriots. It’s seems unlikely the Patriots will adjust their defense at this point in the season after starting the year 6-0 with the best unit in the NFL. But Bennett has been effective as a part-time player.

Trading Bennett could ultimately be looked at as a situation out of the Patriots’ hands. If another team wants him and is willing to cough up a player of need to the Patriots, then a deal makes sense. But if nothing comes together, then the Patriots have another decision to make. Can they make the situation with Bennett work like they did with Branch, or is it too far gone? The fact that Bennett was suspended and not cut this week suggests the Patriots believe they can mend fences.