Bail has been set — at $10,000 — and travel to Hawaii has been approved for indicted Eagles defensive lineman Michael Bennett.
According to NJ.com’s Zach Rosenblatt, Bennett seemed to have a successful day in court Monday as he faces a potential 10 year prison sentence for allegedly assaulting a 66-year-old paraplegic last year in Houstin prior to celebrating his Brother Martellus’s Suepr Bowl LI victory on the field.
Rosenblatt tweeted Monday afternoon that “Michael Bennett asked the judge not to be taken into custody wearing handcuffs in front of the cameras and his family.”
Judge in Eagles player Michael Bennett case says he can’t let NFL player “walk through” bond, says must treat everyone equally. #abc13 pic.twitter.com/OIwCMOUOLu
— Miya Shay (@ABC13Miya) March 26, 2018
After turning himself into authorities, Bennett will await trial and await some kind of decision from the NFL and the Eagles regarding a potential punishment. According to league rules, a conviction does not need to exist for a suspension to be made. And the Eagles could also cut Bennett loose and save more than $5 million in salary cap space.
Sources say there is no video evidence of the incident, just eye-witness accounts. And legal experts also say that there is likely a good chance a plea deal spares Bennett jail time — but how they effects the 32-year-old’s NFL career is unknown.
The Eagles traded for Bennett back when free agency opened two weeks ago, sending WR Marcus Johnson and a fifth round pick to Seattle for Bennett and a seventh rounder. The Eagles and Seahawks both say they were now aware of the impending arrest or the incident.
“We did not know about it before Friday,” Eagles GM Roseman told media members Monday at the NFL Owners meetings. Roseman would go on to say that Bennett is “innocent until proven guilty.”
Regardless of how things play out in the Houston legal system, the pending trial will be the subject of much chatter in the Eagles media for weeks and months to come.
