Bennett a no-show at Bears minicamp
Bears coach John Fox addressed Martellus Bennett's absence from minicamp Thursday without shedding much light on the mindset of the Pro Bowl tight end, who wants a contract extension after a career year in 2014.
"I know where he is," Fox said. "Like I said (Wednesday), with anyone who's not here, I'd prefer they'd be here. But he's part of our football team, and we'll leave it at that."
ESPN has reported that the Bears are open to trading Bennett. Fox said he expects Bennett to remain a Bear for now but declined to commit to the tight end's future with the team when he was asked if he was in their long-term plans.
"That's kind of a tough question to answer on anybody," Fox said. "I don't know yet. We're just evaluating practice and this is our first (minicamp) and our first opportunities over this week."
Bennett signed a four-year, $20.4 million contract as an unrestricted free agent two years ago that contained $5.2 million in guaranteed money, including a $4.5 million signing bonus. He is scheduled to make $4.9 million in base salary this season and $5.085 million in 2016.
Bennett's contract contains a $100,000 workout bonus, but he has not participated in the off-season program that began two weeks ago, and he did not attend any of the three practices during the voluntary minicamp that ended Thursday morning.
Last season, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound Bennett caught 90 passes for 916 yards and 6 touchdowns, all personal bests in a seven-year career that began with the Dallas Cowboys as a second-round pick in 2008.
Although the off-season program and the first minicamp are voluntary, players who don't attend, such as Bennett, running back Matt Forte and nose tackle Jeremiah Ratliff, miss out on an early opportunity to learn the different schemes being installed by the new staff. They also miss a chance to audition for coaches who are figuring out how to utilize their personnel.
"How do you know what you've got in Bennett if he's not here?" Fox was asked.
"That's a good question," the coach said.
Work in progress:
General manager Ryan Pace has remained busy in free-agency addressing team needs, but the job isn't complete.
Since early March, the Bears have signed linebackers Pernell McPhee, Mason Foster and Sam Acho, defensive linemen Ray McDonald and Jarvis Jenkins, safety Antrel Rolle, wide receiver Eddie Royal, cornerback Alan Ball, running back Jacquizz Rodgers, guard Vladimir Ducasse, center Will Montgomery and tight end Bear Pascoe.
Coming off a 5-11 season, however, there's more work to be done. Some of that work, will be done throughout the three days of the draft.
"We have a lot of needs," Pace said. "So to sit here and say we addressed every single position on the roster in free agency, I wish I could say that. There are still needs on our depth chart. But you've got to be disciplined with taking the best player available and we'll continue to do that."
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