Traded from Chicago to New England with one year left on his contract, well-traveled Patriots tight end Martellus Bennett wants to remain with the team after the season ends.
“I love it here,” Bennett told reporters on Thursday. “We’ll figure it out when it’s time to figure it out, but my family loves it here, I love being a part of this team, this organization, and this city. When it comes around, it comes around. I’m not really tripping, like I said. I save my money pretty good. I’ve got a good, diverse portfolio, so I’m not really tripping right now.”
Bennett entered the NFL with the Cowboys, and he spent a year with the Giants before joining the Bears.
For now, the focal point is to pursue a championship. But that doesn’t mean he’s obsessed with winning a Super Bowl.
“I wouldn’t really say [I’m] craving the ring, I just crave the big game moments and playing in games that matter,” Bennett said. “A lot of times, you don’t really get to do things that matter and I have a chance to do that right now.”
Right now, there’s nothing to do, because the Patriots don’t play this weekend.
"[I]t’s the bye week right now so I’m just chilling. I just save my energy, build up as it goes on,” Bennett said. “There’s no reason to have a lot of highs and lows this week, so I’m just trying to have good focus in practice and get better this week, take some time off and see what I can do to contribute and make the team better for the next game. We don’t know who we’re playing, so it’s hard to get excited about ghosts.”
The ghosts will linger until Sunday afternoon. If the Dolphins beat the Steelers, the Patriots will play Miami. If Pittsburgh wins, it’s the winner of Saturday’s Raiders-Texans game. Either way, the Patriots should find it fairly easy to secure a victory in the divisional round and head to the AFC title game for the sixth straight year.
How are Patriots fans still excited when success has become commonplace?
“I mean, I don’t know,” Bennett said. “I like cake a lot and every time I get a new slice, I’m just as happy.”
The cake lasts as long as Tom Brady does. Keeping Bennett around for the duration of Brady’s career amounts to a nice layer of icing.
