Michael Bennett originally said he'd give the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a chance to match any offer he received in free agency. Then he signed with the Seattle Seahawks without saying a word to his previous team.
"They acted like they didn't want me, so no, I didn't go back to them," Bennett told Tampa Tribune reporter Roy Cummings on Friday. "I just didn't feel any love from them at all. And that's kind of disappointing, because for a team that you put everything you had into for four years to do that, you're just kind of, 'OK, whatever.'
"You do everything you can to grow as a player and get better as a player and you prove yourself over and over again for them, but I guess that's just who they are."
Bennett led the Bucs with nine sacks and three forced fumbles last season. The defensive end added a career-high 41 tackles.
The Bucs lost another starter when defensive tackle Roy Miller signed a two-year contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Bennett agreed to a one-year, $5 million deal with the Seahawks in hopes of finding a more fruitful market in 2014.
This is another example that, even though it's normally about the money, players also want to feel the love.
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
