The Sports Xchange

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett says he never asked for a trade to Atlanta, and he still thinks tight end Jimmy Graham is soft.

A report last month indicated Bennett was unhappy with his contract and wanted to be dealt to the Falcons, who are now coached by former Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

On Thursday, Bennett told 710 ESPN Seattle he never asked for a trade. “They made rumors about Jesus. They’ll make rumors about anybody,” he said.

However, Bennett was not asked to clarify whether he was unhappy with his contract.

He was asked about Graham, the new teammate Bennett called “soft” and “overrated” after Seattle beat the New Orleans Saints in a playoff game in January 2014.

“I still feel the same way. I mean, just because he’s on my team I don’t stop feeling that way,” Bennett said. “Obviously I’m going to be a better teammate to him because he’s on my team. I can’t do the things I was doing to him when we were playing him. When he comes to our team, he’s a part of our team.

“I don’t feel as harsh as I did at the time because he’s my teammate now, but at the time he was on the opposite team, a team that we played that was pretty good and we battled with them a couple times, and I didn’t really like that team.”