One would think that some team - any team - would have claimed tight end Martellus Bennett off waivers from the Green Bay Packers just to keep his former employer, the New England Patriots, from doing so.
But no one did except those crafty Patriots, who pulled a LeGarrett Blount-style mid-season dumpster dive to pick up a legitimate tried and true weapon that won't take much time getting up to speed since Bennett is only nine months removed from being an integral part of a Patriots' offense that won a World Championship in February.
The self-proclaimed "Black Unicorn" played in all sixteen regular season games for New England in 2016, toughing out shoulder, knee and ankle injuries to put together the third-best statistical season of his career, his 55 catches for 701 yards and seven touchdowns eclipsed only by his first two years in Chicago, where he earned Pro Bowl honors in 2014.
In addition, Bennett was a force in the post-season, catching five balls in the AFC Championship Game against Pittsburgh, then five more in the Super Bowl against the Atlanta Falcons, as well as drawing a pass interference call in the end zone against the Falcons' De'Vondre Campbell to set up James White's two yard touchdown run that sealed the title.
He was dismissed by the Packers for failing to advise the team of a shoulder injury, and while that is the official story, it could be speculated that Bennett wore out his welcome with his infamous rants, especially recent ones in which he told the press that he was considering retirement at the end of the season.
Whatever the case, Bennett's return to Foxborough couldn't have come at more fortuitous juncture, as the Patriots have more pass catchers on the shelf than they do on the field.
In addition to losing top receiver Julian Edelman for the season, both Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola are battling injuries, with Hogan expected to be on the shelf for a couple of weeks - that leaves just Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett - two players that weren't on the roster last season - as the only healthy options among wide receivers for quarterback Tom Brady to target.
The good news is that Bennett joins All-World tight end Rob Gronkowski and a backfield full of versatile playmakers to form what has become the most unique collection of weapons in the league.
The best part to the waiver claim is that the Patriots now control the final two years left on his Packers' contract, with the only stipulation being a $2 million roster bonus due at the start of the 2018 league year, which is essentially a team option. The only guarantees on his contract were a series of prorated signing bonus payments totaling $6.3 million, $4.2 million of which the Packers had to eat as a dead money hit.
The irony here is, of course, that the Patriots had reportedly offered Bennett a contract extension upon acquiring him from the Bears last season, similar to the one that the Patriots absorb in picking up the Packers' contract, his cap hit for 2018 - one that includes the aforementioned roster bonus - is $6.45 million and then $6.5 million in 2019.
Those are affordable numbers, as is the remainder of his 2017 salary of just $724k, not only for the insurance that the durable Bennett provides at the position, but also for the serious 1-2 punch that New England can unleash upon their foes in tandem with Gronkowski.
How serious? Well, when you consider that in the five games that the two played together last season in which Gronkowski wasn't under any snap count restrictions, they combined for 47 catches for 786 yards and six touchdowns - that averages out to nine receptions for 157 yards and one score per game...
...and if you spread that over a full season, you get a completely ridiculous stat line of 150 receptions for 2,512 yards and 19 touchdowns.
It's not tangible to expect that kind of production from the two tight end set - even though the Gronkowski-Hernandez tandem gave the team a similar stat line in 2012 - but Bennett's range and blocking prowess is a part of the total package that goes unnoticed by the casual fan and adds to the intrigue.
Both Gronkowski and Bennett - as well as free-agent pickup Dwayne Allen - are devastating blockers in the running game and are able on the edge in pass protection, adding a layer of versatility that is rare in professional football, and along with their well-documented skill in the pattern makes them almost a requirement as the Patriots will certainly turn to more 12 personnel (one back, two tight ends) looks...
...an alignment that will now require defenses to dedicate safeties and linebackers to coverage which, in theory, will lighten the box against the running game and force single high safety formations that will strap the coverage on the vertical game.
Bennett's presence will certainly cut into Allen's snap count (not to mention send rookie Jacob Hollister to the practice squad), but will also allow him to operate in the background, which may jump start his production in the passing game and also make Jumbo sets (two backs and three tight ends) so versatile that it would be nearly impossible to stop in short yardage and in the red zone, as defenses would have to keep the box light in the event Gronkowski and/or Bennett peel off the edge and into the pattern.
Make no mistake, if Bennett is motivated and reasonably healthy, the Patriots' waiver claim on him could be the piece to the puzzle that gets the offensive juggernaut rolling.
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