On the Mend with Arrelious Benn, Part 3: Free Agency

The Eagles are set to start free agency on Tuesday and the action is likely to be hot and heavy. Philadelphia wide receiver Arrelious Benn has been in the league long enough to know that free agency can have an big impact on a team and he has witnessed the change first hand. He understands the NFL as a business and has terrific insight on the comings and goings of the free agency process.

While he has been rehabbing from his torn ACL, Benn has followed the recent Eagles news and has been training at the NovaCare Complex. Benn sat down once again with BGN's Mike Kaye to talk about free agency, the new wide receiver deals, Jason Avant's departure and more. Below is their latest Q&A session:

Your fellow wide receivers, Riley Cooper and Jeremy Maclin, both got new deals recently. Can you talk about what it means to a player to see his team take care of their own? As a player with one year left on your deal, how does that make you feel about the organization?

"[The Eagles are] a great organization that takes care of their own and [they] believe in the guys they have around them. That's something good [because] you want to keep the same guys and have that same relationship developed between one another. You want the guys to have trust in each other, so [having continuity] is good."

As someone who rehabbed with Jeremy Maclin and is going through the same injury, how did feel to see the Eagles reward him with a new contract?

"Maclin is a guy that had been with the Eagles before I got here and he's been great. You know, it's all about [the Eagles] trusting in their guys and they know their guys. They definitely gave me a shot and they traded for me, and that speaks a lot about me being here. I'm not worried about money and who has what, I just want to play football."

The team let go of Jason Avant, who was with the team for eight years. I know you were only here for a year but you stuck around the team and were in the same meeting room. Can you talk about him as a leader and as a player?

"The first thing I can say is that Jason is a 'Godly Man' and he's a great guy. He loves the game of football and he is a very hard worker. He definitely has the respect and leadership feel, as far as how players looked at him [in the locker room]. He carried himself a certain way and he was just great for the game of football and the Philadelphia Eagles. I am definitely going to miss him and not be able to be in the same room as him and really play with him. He is really going to be missed."

How close do players that are not in free agency follow it? Do players follow where their college teammates or current teammates are signing?

"You always get a whiff of [the process]. It's your job so your definitely going to read the headlines but I think most guys just focus on themselves, focus on their time off and their family and just getting healthy and getting their mind right for another year. I think the guys that aren't dealing with the free agency do that. I think guys that are involved in free agency want to know where they are going to be at, so it is more of the guys in the free agency period of their career."

A lot of fans are under the impression that players recruit others to their team. Is that a role that a lot of players play in free agency? Have you ever recruited a guy to your team?

"I guess its to each their own. I guess some guys do it. At some point, you come across a good guy that has great ability and you want him to possibly come to the university or team that you play for. If he can add something to the team, then yeah, anyone would do that and find a new way for us to add depth to what the team can do."

You can follow Benn on Twitter at @ArreliousBenn. You can also follow Mike Kaye on Twitter at @Mike_E_Kaye.