Martellus Bennett has Huge Upside for Chicago Bears in 2015
Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett has yet to report to the team this off season. Bennett is coming off of the best season of his career, where he hauled in 90 receptions for 916 yards and six touchdowns, earning him Pro Bowl honors for the first time.
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After his career year, Bennett wants a raise from his $4.9 million salary this year and $5 million for 2016, and he has been willing to sit out of all the voluntary workouts up until this point. While the workouts so far have all been voluntary, teams expect their players to be there, especially the veteran leaders like Bennett.
Next week, the Bears have their mandatory minicamp. If Bennett continues to sit out, the team will start to issue fines. Once absences start to effect their pocketbooks, players usually start showing up. One way or another, I expect that this issue will be fixed soon.
If the Bears can get Bennett to start showing up, he can be a very important player in their offense. He obviously had a very successful season last year, but under new offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Bennett has even more upside.
At 6-foot-7, 248 pounds with a nice combination of speed, strength and athletic ability, Bennett is a serious threat in the passing game, as he showed last season. With Gase now in control of the offense, Bennett will be put in even better positions to succeed.
Gase has been the offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos under current Bears’ head coach John Fox for the past two seasons. While Gase and Fox were in Denver, they featured Julius Thomas is their offense, a tight end with similar size and athletic ability as Bennett.
While Thomas’ receptions and receiving yards totals were not as impressive as Bennett’s last season, he did catch 12 touchdowns in both of his seasons under Fox and Gase. They used Thomas all over the field. They lined him up as a traditional inline tight end, as a slot receiver and even outside as the X-receiver. Thomas was a clear match-up nightmare, and the Broncos found the best ways to use him.
Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase before the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game against the Indianapolis Colts at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Gase did an incredible job of putting Thomas in situations to succeed, especially in the red zone. I see him doing a lot of same stuff with Bennett, if he gives him the opportunity by showing up.
First things first, the Bears have to get Bennett to report to the team. It is probably worth throwing him a few extra bucks to get him there, but like I said earlier, I expect it to workout. Things like this tend to work themselves out in the end.
If the Bears and Bennett can work out their differences, his upside is massive in Gase’s offense. He is the perfect coach to find match-up situations for Bennett to consistently capitalize on. It is in the best interest of both parties to get this dispute worked out, as Bennett can have a career year that will drastically help the Bears’ offense in their attempt to return to elite status.