Michael Bennett says Seahawks are a perfect fit for Colin Kaepernick

Michael Bennett was among several Seahawks who voiced their support for Colin Kaepernick last season while the quarterback declined to stand for the national anthem in protest of racial inequality in America. Now that the Seahawks have said they’re considering signing Kaepernick, Bennett says he’d be on board.

He told John Clayton and Gee Scott on 710 ESPN Seattle on Tuesday that Kaepernick would fit well in the Seahawks’ locker room and in their offense as Russell Wilson’s backup.

“A person that’s dedicating their life to creating change, why wouldn’t you want that type of leadership in your locker room? Why wouldn’t you want to give (a chance to) a person that’s dealt with issues, dealt with people calling him wanting to kill him because of his choices in life? So I don’t know why people feel like that is a problem,” Bennett said.

Salk: Signing Kaepernick should be a “no-brainer” for the Seahawks

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told “Brock and Salk” on Monday that Seattle is looking at all available backup quarterbacks, including Kaepernick. Michael Silver of the NFL Network has since reported that Seahawks general manager John Schneider reached out to Kaepernick’s agent last Friday and called the Seattle’s interest in the quarterback “legit.”

“I think Kaepernick getting an opportunity to be on our team would be really cool, really a good space for him,” Bennett said, “because you have a coach like Coach Carroll who’s up for challenges like that, you have an owner (Paul Allen) who understands and gives back to homeless, you’ve got players on your team that give back in the community, you’ve got Russell Wilson, who shows our team is built around community. So this is a perfect place for him.”

Bennett took issue with the notion that Kaepernick would be a distraction in Seattle’s locker room because of his social activism. Along with Bennett, fellow Seahawks Cliff Avril, Doug Baldwin, Jeremy Lane and Bobby Wagner expressed some form of public support for Kaepernick last season.

“He’d be a very good fit in our locker room. I don’t know why he wouldn’t,” Bennett said. “We all talk about the same issues. It’s just that he had the courage to be able to step up.”

Bennett said signing Kaepernick would make sense from a football standpoint as well because of how his mobility fits with what Seattle likes to do offensively.

“I think if you look at the things that he’s done over the years and this team, we’re a running-based offense and to be able to play the option would give him a lot of opportunities to be able to be a feature player in the NFL again,” Bennett said. “I think we’ve got a great system, a great group of players, and we’ve got Russell Wilson, who’s won a lot of games, too. So that would be good for him.”