Packers TE Martellus Bennett to retire at the end of the season

[GSUeagles14]

36 minutes ago, childofpudding said:

The black unicorn really doing TT a solid here, though I don't know. Maybe there was a chance he'd get released after this season anyway. Safe to say Bennett wasn't much of an upgrade over Cook, if at all.

from the games ive seen, and its been quite a few, hes been awful. no question hes a clear downgrade from cook.

[Pugger]

10 hours ago, Yin-Yang said:

He’s not playing all that well this season anyway, glad he’s getting out while he’s still got his health.

I donno about that.  He's been one of our better blockers...   

[Soko]

49 minutes ago, Pugger said:

I donno about that.  He's been one of our better blockers...   

Would it be more accurate to say he’s underachieving then?

I had really high expectations of him. Playing with Rodgers in a pass first offense, I figured he’d have really impacted their offensive stopping power, but he came in and appears to be giving you what a decent amount of TEs can give. Good blocking and okay receiving. 

Might not be fair to say since the OL has been so banged up and he’s been asked to block, but he’s getting a ton of targets in the passing game. 

[incognito_man]

1 hour ago, childofpudding said:

The black unicorn really doing TT a solid here, though I don't know. Maybe there was a chance he'd get released after this season anyway. Safe to say Bennett wasn't much of an upgrade over Cook, if at all.

He has had probably 2 or 3 bad drops on the season and a couple of really nice grabs as well. He's been phenomenal in the rushing game, but hasn't had many opportunities in the passing game.

People are overstating how bad he has been, but he has underachieved for sure. He's vastly different player than Cook so it's hard to say if he's been a downgrade or not. Cook is useless in the running game.

[MacReady]

47 minutes ago, childofpudding said:

The black unicorn really doing TT a solid here, though I don't know. Maybe there was a chance he'd get released after this season anyway. Safe to say Bennett wasn't much of an upgrade over Cook, if at all.

I'm starting to think Rodgers is just a a little bit of a girl when it comes to trusting his receivers/tight ends. 

Jared Cook had 30 receptions and a TD in the regular season last year.  He has 27 receptions and a TD already this year.  Richard Rodgers had 58 receptions and 8 touchdowns in 2015.  That was NOT due to Richard's talent as a receiver.  He had more touchdowns and more receptions than Jared Cook last year, and I think that's a reflection of how important trust is to Rodgers. 

Jermichael Finley has hinted at Aaron's ridiculous standards, and I think it's legitimate.  Jeff Janis had 7 receptions for 145 yards and 2 touchdowns in the playoff game against the Cardinals ONLY because there LITERALLY weren't any other options with everybody injured.  Nelson out to start season, Adams out, Cobb out... There was nobody left.  He had 11 receptions for 95 yards and 1 touchdown all the next year and 0 this year.  He's bad at route running and he makes mental errors, but I refuse to believe he's not involved on 30/32 teams in a bit larger capacity after a 145 yard, 2 TD playoff game. 

We've seen countless bits of evidence that suggest Aaron is obsessed with his passer rating, and I think that obsession and lack of trust with talented receiving options does more to hurt his rating and performance than it does to help it.  I think it literally ended his season, too, because... Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Bennett open a good chunk of time before Aaron finally decided to throw it to him on the play that hurt him?  Somebody please confirm or deny this because it would really help my point if Aaron's unwillingness/hesitance to throw to players he doesn't fully trust directly led to his season-ending injury because he took too long to throw the ball. 

[MacReady]

Just now, incognito_man said:

People are overstating how bad he has been, but he has underachieved for sure. He's vastly different player than Cook so it's hard to say if he's been a downgrade or not. Cook is useless in the running game.

I don't even think he's underachieved.  Jared Cook was the same way last year until he got into a rhythm, and you can't get into a rhythm unless you're getting game opportunities.  Look at Bennett's gamelogs last year with the Patriots while he was behind Gronkowski as an option, then compare those to his early games in Green Bay. 

3 receptions, 5 receptions 100+ yards, 2, 5, 6, 5 receptions.  Those were his first 6 games in New England.  While Gronkowski was healthy.  He's been somewhat active for us, but Aaron hasn't been taking shots to him.  After week one, his next two weeks he averaged 9 and then 4 yards per catch.  Then 6.5.  Dallas, five weeks into the season, was the first time it looked like he was getting involved when he averaged over 17 yards a catch. 

I think him getting going had more to do with Aaron starting to trust him, and I think right now is right around the time he'd start having good games and big catches.  I don't even like Bennett all that much as a player, but I'd put as much if not more of the blame on his slow start on Rodgers. 

[Pugger]

8 minutes ago, HorizontoZenith said:

I don't even think he's underachieved.  Jared Cook was the same way last year until he got into a rhythm, and you can't get into a rhythm unless you're getting game opportunities.  Look at Bennett's gamelogs last year with the Patriots while he was behind Gronkowski as an option, then compare those to his early games in Green Bay. 

3 receptions, 5 receptions 100+ yards, 2, 5, 6, 5 receptions.  Those were his first 6 games in New England.  While Gronkowski was healthy.  He's been somewhat active for us, but Aaron hasn't been taking shots to him.  After week one, his next two weeks he averaged 9 and then 4 yards per catch.  Then 6.5.  Dallas, five weeks into the season, was the first time it looked like he was getting involved when he averaged over 17 yards a catch. 

I think him getting going had more to do with Aaron starting to trust him, and I think right now is right around the time he'd start having good games and big catches.  I don't even like Bennett all that much as a player, but I'd put as much if not more of the blame on his slow start on Rodgers. 

Bennett has had a problem with drops this year.  He dropped that pass in this mitts when Rodgers got hurt in MN.  Unfortunately it takes time for a receiver to get into a rhythm with your QB and now Rodgers is on IR.

[tom cody]

He's had an off season but at 30 seems like  a bit soon for him to retire.

[CWood21]

3 hours ago, childofpudding said:

The black unicorn really doing TT a solid here, though I don't know. Maybe there was a chance he'd get released after this season anyway. Safe to say Bennett wasn't much of an upgrade over Cook, if at all.

Not sure you know what you're talking about.  He's been really good blocking, but his receiving hasn't come around like we thought it would be.  Never really seemed on the same page as Rodgers.  With a full offseason, little doubt he would have taken off.  As for him or Jared Cook, he didn't have those lapses that Cook seemed to have.

[lancerman]

Well since he's retiring and Rodgers is out, could the Packers do us a solid and take pity on us for that Favre Super Bowl. We could use him is all I'm saying.

[childofpudding]

3 hours ago, CWood21 said:

Not sure you know what you're talking about.  He's been really good blocking, but his receiving hasn't come around like we thought it would be.  Never really seemed on the same page as Rodgers.  With a full offseason, little doubt he would have taken off.  As for him or Jared Cook, he didn't have those lapses that Cook seemed to have.

Nah, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. Maybe you have a short memory? There were high expectations, particularly among Packers fans, that Bennett would be a viable dual threat as a TE with Rodgers under center. Perhaps those expectations were too high, but he absolutely has underachieved given them. I don't think it's outlandish to opine that Bennett hasn't been a huge upgrade over Cook.

Also, what do you mean, with a full offseason? They signed MB in early March. Does Rodgers do some incredible amount of offseason work with his TEs in February that I'm unaware of?

[SteelKing728]

There are a few nice tight ends coming out this year. I could see Green Bay spending an early pick on one.

[ThatJerkDave]

5 hours ago, lancerman said:

Well since he's retiring and Rodgers is out, could the Packers do us a solid and take pity on us for that Favre Super Bowl. We could use him is all I'm saying.

Can we have one season of Belichick as DC before Rodgers retires in exchange for Bennett for the remainder of this season?

[TheOnlyThing]

Bennett has done very little in the passing game, even when Rodgers was healthy. The difference between Jared Cook's ability to stretch the field late last season and Bennett's ponderousness has been eye opening.

He is also among the league leaders in drops, and if anyone wants to see him in action take a look at the play Rodgers got hurt on, just a terrible drop.

It is true, that Bennett has been a boon to the running game. 

Bennett has also been his usual self by drawing a great deal of attention to himself.

Now, with 9 games to go he has found it necessary to announce he plans to retire at the end of the season. With 2 years left on the contract he just signed a few months ago.

I doubt that 2% of Packers fans would want him back next season for anything close to the $6.1 million he is being paid this season.

[TheOnlyThing]

4 hours ago, childofpudding said:

Nah, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about. Maybe you have a short memory? There were high expectations, particularly among Packers fans, that Bennett would be a viable dual threat as a TE with Rodgers under center. Perhaps those expectations were too high, but he absolutely has underachieved given them. I don't think it's outlandish to opine that Bennett hasn't been a huge upgrade over Cook.

Also, what do you mean, with a full offseason? They signed MB in early March. Does Rodgers do some incredible amount of offseason work with his TEs in February that I'm unaware of?

You are 100% correct sir, there were tremendously high expectations for Bennett in Green Bay this season among Packer fans. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

At this point, a certain subset of Packer fans are trying to rationalize Bennett's deeply disappointing play in the passing game/pre mid-season decision to say bye bye by pretending that given his blocking it was somehow just fine to pay him over six million. Yeah right.