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Bennett to Seahawks: 'If you don't think I'm valuable, then just get rid of me'

Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Michael Bennett is happy to see fellow defensive linemen get paid, but now it's his turn.

That's the message the Seattle Seahawks' outspoken Pro Bowler delivered Thursday to The Huffington Post's Jordan Schultz.

Bennett has often spoken publicly about his contract situation and it appears he isn't about to stop until he signs a new one.

"I just want to be fairly compensated with the top guys in the league," he said. "I'm definitely one of the top five defensive ends."

Bennett is in the third year of a four-year, $28.5-million deal signed in 2014. He'll earn $4 million in base salary this year with a signing bonus of $2 million and a $1-million roster bonus. The 30-year-old set a career high in sacks last year with 10. He added 52 total tackles, two forced fumbles, and another 10 tackles and a forced fumble in the playoffs.

By comparison, New York Giants defensive end Olivier Vernon signed a five-year, $85-million free-agent contract this offseason.

"It is never ending. Especially when people are getting new contracts every day. You sit there and you're like, 'Damn, really?' I'm just to the point where it's kind of like, if you don't think I'm valuable, then just get rid of me."

One member of the Seahawks who has acknowledged Bennett's value happens to be the team's vice president of football operations: head coach Pete Carroll.

"Michael Bennett is an extraordinary individual and an extraordinary teammate. I love the heck out of him ... He's not wrong. He's right (to be frustrated)," Carroll said to Schultz.

"We're gonna make an effort. An effort so he remains a Seahawk."

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