Confirmed: Source Tells SI.com Cowboys Trading Late-Round Pick to Patriots for DE Michael Bennett
FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys have traded for controversial defensive end Michael Bennett, a team front-office source confirms to CowboysSI.com, giving up a late-round conditional pick for the player who New England put on suspension last week.
ESPN and Jordan Schultz were first with the report, noting that the pick is a seventh-rounder with a chance to become a sixth.
Bennett, 33, returned to the team this week after serving a one-game suspension for what he said was a ''philosophical disagreement'' with Patriots defensive line coach Bret Bielema.
Bennett was asked if there were takeaways - lessons learned - from the suspension.
''I didn't take away nothing,'' he said. ''I got suspended, lost money. What am I supposed to take away from that? There is no love lost. It's just what it is.''
It's possible that such a response fueled coach Bill Belichick's willingness to give away a talented player for essentially nothing.
For the Cowboys, they are getting a player who in his younger days excelled in as an edge rusher while playing with Seattle and Philadelphia. He'll pitch in with a rotation that will no longer include Tyrone Crawford (he's now in IR) but is led by DeMarcus Lawrence and Robert Quinn.
It isn't the same level of deal Dallas made a year ago in giving up a first-round pick for Amari Cooper ... But it does speak to the go-for-it position of this front office.
Last season with the Eagles, the Texas A&M product Bennett recorded nine sacks, 30 quarterback hits and 34 tackles, including 15 for a loss, prompting New England to give up a fifth-round pick for him. All along, he's been a bit of a free spirit, just like his brother Martellus Bennett, who left Dallas as no fan of the Cowboys.
Michael Bennett, who is signed through 2020, was asked this week if he felt on good terms with his Patriots.
''You have to ask them,'' he replied.
Looks like the Patriots gave him their answer. And the Cowboys gave him theirs.
