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Seahawks DE Michael Bennett says he wants pay raise, not trade

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett says he wants pay raise, not trade  
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Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett says he never requested a trade and that he only wants to get paid more based on his performance.

The Bennett trade rumors started in March, when a Fort Worth Star-Telegramreport indicated that Bennett wanted to be traded to the Falcons to re-join former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who was hired as Atlanta’s head coach in the off-season.

Bennett was asked if he wanted to be traded by KING 5 News. 

"No," Bennett said. “I think everyone who has a job, they want a raise for whatever they're doing. I'm just like any other American. I think everybody wants to be paid a little bit more, so I don't think I fall short of that."

Bennett, 29, signed a four-year, $28.5 million deal with $16 million in guaranteed money last off-season. He is set to make $6 million this season, plus $2 million of his signing bonus.

"People assume when you ask for a little more money, they assume that you want to be traded or something like that," he said. "But that's not what I'm trying to go for."

SI's complete coverage of Deflategate

Bennett recorded 47 tackles and seven sacks last season while helping the Seahawks become the league's top-ranked defense in 2014.

Bennett also said he had no problems with the Patriots after the Wells report about Deflategate and that it didn't make much of a difference in the 28-24 Super Bowl XLIX loss.

“I think it didn't matter. I think they beat us fair and square," Bennett said. “If you do something like that, everybody knows that you know about it but people just hate when you lie."

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