Ndamukong Suh's record-setting deal with Dolphins: 5 things to know
The offseason's top free agent is apparently off the market as defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh reportedly will sign a record-breaking deal with the Miami Dolphins when free agency officially opens Tuesday. Suh spent the first five years of his career with the Detroit Lions,
who drafted him second overall out of Nebraska in 2010. While Suh has
been criticized for aggressive and dirty play, he was considered this
year's best defensive free agent. Here are a five things to know about
Suh and his deal.
1. The money: Suh's pact will
be for six years and $114 million, with $60 million of that sum
guaranteed in the first three years, according to ESPN's Chris Mortensen. That's similar in structure to what our Jason La Canfora reported he'd been hearing back on March 5.
Suh becomes the fifth non-quarterback to land a contract worth more than $100 million, according to ESPN's Field Yates.
If the figures are as reported, it's the largest contract ever signed
by a defensive player, surpassing the six-year, $100 million deal with
$30.876 guaranteed signed by J.J. Watt last offseason. The $60 million guarantee figure would be the second largest in the league behind only 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, according to Spotrac.
Miami came into the three-day "legal tampering" period with a little more than $9 million in cap space, according to Spotrac's figures, and will have to make some moves in order to fit Suh's contract on the books. They've been attempting to trade highly paid wide receiver Mike Wallace for a while now, which would help accomplish some of that. They have some other well-compensated players like Branden Albert, Cameron Wake, Brent Grimes, Dannell Ellerbe (who has been termed likely to be released) and Reshad Jones who could be candidates to have their contracts restructured or released.
2. Suh's career so far:
Suh has played in every game save two since entering the league. The
two games he missed were because of a suspension handed down for shoving
and then stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith in a Thanksgiving game against the Packers.
In
his five seasons, Suh has totaled 239 tackles and 36 sacks. Both of
those figures are the highest among defensive tackles during that time.
Suh was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2010 and was also named to
the Pro Bowl in 2010, '12, '13 and '14. He has been named first-team
All-Pro by the Associated Press three times (2010, '13, '14) and
second-team All-Pro once (2012).
Suh ranked fourth, second and
third in Pro Football Focus' defensive tackle grading the past three
seasons. He particularly excels as a pass rusher, generating at least 57
pressures in each of those three years while finishing either first or
second among defensive tackles in pressure all three. He's one of only
four defensive tackles to have a 10-plus sack season in the past five
years. Ndamukong Suh is heading to Miami on a record deal. (Getty Images)The
only thing holding Suh back slightly is his predilection for penalties.
He has racked up 40 in his five-year career and led all defensive
tackles with 10 in 2014. He again was scrutinized for post-play
activities after stepping on Aaron Rodgers' leg in the regular-season finale. He was originally suspended for Detroit's wild-card playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys,
but the decision was overturned and he was fined instead. It was the
fifth time in his career Suh had been fined for an on-field infraction.
3. How he fits in Miami: Suh should fit right in along this defensive line. Miami has two excellent edge rushers in Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon, but they seem likely to lose defensive tackle Jared Odrick in free agency and veteran Randy Starks could get cut. That scenario playing out would likely see Suh line up next to Earl Mitchell at defensive tackle.
The
Dolphins started off last season very strong defensively, but their
pass rush fell off considerably in the second half of the season and the
run defense slipped as well. The Dolphins were second in overall
defensive DVOA as of Week 9, but wound up finishing the season at 17th.
How did they do that? By ranking 31st in overall defensive DVOA from
Weeks 10-17. They went from second to 31st against the pass and sixth to
28th against the run after Week 9.
Suh helps in both areas. Not
only is he a great pass rusher, but he also helped make the Lions one of
the strongest run defenses of the past 25 years last season. Suh's
penetration up the middle created a lot of plays in the backfield not
only for himself, but also for teammates as runners cut back into the
arms of waiting defenders to avoid Suh. With Wake and Vernon bringing
pressure on the edge and Suh collapsing the middle, opposing
quarterbacks and runners should be in for a tough time against Miami.
4. Where the Lions go from here: Detroit
is losing the best player from what was one of the league's strongest
defenses last season, and may lose fellow defensive tackle Nick Fairley as well. While Ezekiel Ansah, DeAndre Levy, Glover Quin and Darius Slay
are still around to anchor the unit, they'll have a lot of work to do
in order to rebuild a dominant front line. Luckily, Teryl Austin is
still on hand to call the defensive plays, at least for this season. The
Lions, though, don't have all that much cap space to work with when
going searching for replacements. Spotrac has them with just over $17.5 million of cap space as of this writing, 20th most in the league.
5. The rest of the market: Suh was the top player on our free-agent big board, and the top defender as well. With Justin Houston, Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas each receiving the franchise tag, the only player remaning in our top five is Darrelle Revis, who will become a free agent if and when the Patriots decline his option, though he's expected to return to New England.
With Suh off the board, the top remaning defensive tackles available are Fairley (15), Terrance Knighton (23), Stephen Paea (34), Dan Williams (40), B.J. Raji (51) and Odrick (52).
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