Michael Bennett: “I used to hate the Patriots”

It’s hard to blame him.

Just like it was hard to blame Steelers’ legend, James Harrison. Both players have fewer championship rings than they maybe should have if it wasn’t for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the New England Patriots. In fact, Bennett and the Seahawks were two yards away from winning their second consecutive Super Bowl after holding a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLIX. Everyone knows how that story ends.

But now, just a few years later, Michael Bennett finds himself on the other side. He, just as his brother Martellus did in the past, will now don the Patriots logo on his jersey. And just like with his brother, the mindset has quickly shifted for the veteran defensive end.

“I used to hate the Patriots,” Bennett said. “I used to hate it. I hated because they win so much, hated because Tom Brady’s hair was long, hated because Bill Belichick wore sweaters. But now that I’m here, I love it. I love Tom Brady’s hair. I love being a Patriot, obviously, because it’s all about winning.”

The acquisition of Bennett, which became official yesterday, is more important now as it should help mitigate the loss of Trey Flowers who signed a 5-year deal with the Lions on the first day of the legal tampering period.

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Bennett now joins a defense that held the Rams to three points in Super Bowl LIII. In addition, every starter from that team returns with the exception of Flowers and Malcolm Brown. In the case of Brown, he could return but as of this writing, his future with the team is still up in the air.

Despite the Patriots relatively “quiet” start to free agency, they have managed to take care of their own business despite losing Flowers and tackle Trent Brown on day one. In addition to the Bennett move, the Patriots re-signed Jason McCourty to a two-year deal after a stellar first season with the team. They also re-signed defensive lineman John Simon, an underrated midseason acquisition, to a two-year deal. With Bennett, they should be able to so a lot of the things they did in 2018 with the new defensive coordinator, Greg Schiano.

The Patriots are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since Brady and the Patriots won Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX. In addition, they will look to become only the second team to appear in four consecutive Super Bowls, joining the Buffalo Bills of the mid-90s.