Bené Benwikere

The Carolina Panthers selected Benwikere in the fifth round (148th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.[10] The Carolina Panthers traded a fifth (168th overall) and seventh round pick (225th overall) to the Minnesota Vikings and received a fifth round pick (148th overall) in order to draft Benwikere.[11] Carolina Panthers’ General Manager Dave Gettleman noted the Panthers’ had graded Benwikere as a fourth round pick.[1] Benwikere was the 19th cornerback drafted in 2014.

Benwikere (#25) and Marlon Brown.

On May 20, 2014, the Carolina Panthers signed Benwikere to a four-year, $2.41 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $199,000.[12]

As a rookie, during the preseason, Benwikere won the starting nickel corner position on the Panther defense over veteran Charles Godfrey.[13] On his NFL debut on September 7, 2014, in Carolina's 20-14 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Benwikere had 4 tackles, 1 pass deflection, and a recovery of a forced fumble by teammate Luke Kuechly on Tampa running back Bobby Rainey.[14][15] Benwikere's fumble recovery enabled Carolina to run out the clock en route to their victory.[14] In a week 2 victory over the Detroit Lions, Benwikere allowed only 20% of his targets to catch a pass, had a pressure, and recorded a pass deflection that was nearly picked off by teammate, Star Lotulelei.[16] Through the first two weeks of the season, Pro Football Focus rated Benwikere as the second best cornerback in the NFL, allowing a completion percentage of only 44.4% of passes thrown in his area.

In the first half of the October 5 game against the Chicago Bears, Benwikere left the game in the first half after twisting his ankle.[17] As of November 9, Benwikere has been inactive.[15] In the Panthers week 14 game against the New Orleans Saints, Benwikere recorded his first NFL interception against Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Despite giving up 8 catches on 10 targets against the Saints, he only gave up 48 yards and his rating when targeted was a 47.1.[18] Benwikere didn't allow a single touchdown in 254 snaps and 45 targets (best among rookie corners who played at least 25 percent of their team's snaps).[19] On December 23, 2014, Benwikere was named to the Sports Illustrated 2014 All-Rookie Team.[19] Over the final eight weeks of the regular season, Pro Football Focus rated Benwikere as the best cover corner in the NFL.[20] During the Panthers playoff victory over the Arizona Cardinals, Benwikere gave up only one reception for 21 yards for the game.[21] On January 13, 2015, Benwikere was named to the ProFootball Focus 2014 All-Rookie Team. He was also named to the All-Rookie teams for both ESPN and Sports Illustrated. For his rookie season, Benwikere allowed a rookie-low 72.9 opposing quarterback rating, no touchdowns, and was the third best in the NFL in the yards per reception allowed in 459 regular-season snaps.[22]

With the Panthers acquisition of Charles Tillman during the offseason, Benwikere was named the Panthers starting nickelback to open the season.[23] Through the first three weeks of the season, the only two cornerbacks who were targeted 20 or more times and had not allowed a pass for more than 16 yards were Benwikere and teammate, Josh Norman. During the Panthers 44-16 victory over the Washington Redskins, Benwikere recorded his first career strip-sack against quarterback Kirk Cousins and only allowed 14 receiving yards in his zone. On December 13, during a game against the Atlanta Falcons, Benwikere suffered a fractured leg, and was placed on season-ending injury reserve.

On February 7, 2016, Benwikere's Panthers played in Super Bowl 50. In the game, the Panthers fell to the Denver Broncos by a score of 24–10.[24]

On October 7, Benwikere was released by Carolina after the Panthers defense allowed 300 receiving yards[25] to Atlanta Falcons' wide receiver Julio Jones for only the sixth such occurrence in NFL history. Benwikere admitted having some "conditioning issues", allowing the Falcons' Jones to get a step on him.[26]

Benwikere was claimed off waivers by the Miami Dolphins on October 10, 2016.[27] He was released by the Dolphins on November 8, and was re-signed to the practice squad.[28]

Benwikere was signed to the Green Bay Packers practice squad on January 17, 2017.[29]

On February 14, 2017, Benwikere was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.[30]

On September 2, 2017, the Dallas Cowboys traded a conditional 2019 sixth-round draft pick (#198-Tim Harris) to the Cincinnati Bengals in exchange for Benwikere.[31] The Cowboys acquired him to provide depth while rookies Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis recovered from hamstring strains.[32] He appeared in 12 games playing mainly on special teams, registering 2 tackles in only 10 defensive snaps.

On March 23, 2018, Benwikere signed with the Arizona Cardinals, reuniting with head coach Steve Wilks who was his defensive backs coach with the Panthers.[33] He played in 11 games, starting eight, before being released by the Cardinals on November 26, 2018.[34]

On December 5, 2018, Benwikere was signed by the Oakland Raiders.[35]

On August 3, 2019, Benwikere was signed by the Minnesota Vikings.[36] He was released on August 27, 2019.[37]