Bennie Logan turned down big money contract extension from Eagles, report says

The Philadelphia Eagles didn’t seem to try very hard to retain Bennie Logan this offseason before he left in free agency to sign with the Chiefs. Maybe that’s because they knew their efforts would be in vain.

According to a report from NFL insider Charles Robinson, the Eagles offered Logan a “sizable” extension during the 2016 season but the team’s starting defensive tackle turned it down.

Jason Ashworth, who first reported Logan’s signing with Kansas City, also expressed this sentiment last week. Ashworth says he heard Logan turned down $9 million per year while Robinson says it was actually a little more than that.

If these reports are true, it’s very hard to blame the Eagles for not retaining Logan. I feel like I love Bennie more than most, but if he’s turning down $9 million per ... what was he expecting? $10 million per? That would have made him the sixth highest paid 4-3 defensive tackle on an annual value basis. Again, I like Bennie, but that’s a lot of money for the Eagles to be paying when they’re already cap-strapped. And with Fletcher Cox ($17 million) in the fold, the Eagles would have been paying their defensive tackles a combined value of $27 million-plus per year.

Logan is a good player, but not overpaying to extend him seems like the right move. His pass rush numbers aren’t great (5.5 sacks in 59 games) and he turns 28 years old this season. Compare those figures to a player like Johnathan Hankins, who is still on the market and who has reportedly drawn interest from the Eagles, who is only 24 and has 10 sacks in 52 games.

If these reports are true, Logan made a mistake to turn down the Eagles’ offer because he only received a max value of $8 million on a one-year contract with the Chiefs. He’ll need a big season this year to get the kind of long-term money he wants next offseason. Or maybe Logan was fine with turning down the money because he didn’t like Jim Schwartz and/or playing in the Eagles’ wide-nine scheme as opposed to playing in the 3-4? Just speculating.

In any case, here’s wishing Bennie the best. He was a good player and a good guy to have in the locker room.

As for the Eagles, defensive tackle is now a big need for them. Signing Hankins to replace Logan would be nice, but it remains to be seen if he can be signed for a reasonable price. The Eagles have Beau Allen around but it doesn’t seem like he’s an ideal long-term starter. Even if he is, Philadelphia needs more depth behind him. The Eagles will likely address the defensive line in the 2017 NFL Draft.

UPDATE:

Bennie responded to Robinson’s tweet.

Robinson gave Bennie a chance to deny the report but Bennie hasn’t replied.