Former Lions All-Pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was refreshingly honest in saying he’s in absolutely no hurry to sign with a new team.
Any visions of Ndamukong Suh coming back to the Detroit Lions last offseason went unrealized, as he wound up signing with the NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in the middle of the season. He played in eight regular season games and all three postseason games for them, but his numbers were not outstanding in a very part-time role.
Suh is 36 years old, and his peak days as a player are obviously in his review mirror. With other interests outside of football, the idea of retiring has to be somewhere on his mind.
Suh started his four-day run this week as a guest analyst on NFL Network’s “Total Access” Monday night. His playing future was a natural topic of conversation, and the 2010 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year was bluntly honest about the timing of signing with a new team.
Ndamukong Suh bluntly honest about when he wants to sign with a new team
As an older player, Suh’s sentiment about the rigors of training camp is expected.
I have no desire to be in a training camp,” Suh said Monday on NFL Total Access, “I will come in and watch and look and give some advice, but when Week 1 happens, I’ll be ready.”
Suh was willing to wait until well into last season, mid-November, before he signed with the Eagles. Waiting that long again this year would appear unlikely, another year older and teams perhaps less willing to take that flier on him.
Suh has played in three of the last five Super Bowls, winning a ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. He can certainly help a team as a depth piece and stout run defender. He is also not far removed from back-to-back six sack seasons with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021.
NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks gave his opinion about best fits for Suh–a reunion with the Lions, signing with the Seattle Seahawks or going over to the AFC to sign with the Baltimore Ravens.
Such as he may have those options, Suh will certainly hone in on Super Bowl contenders for his next team. He has already written off the New York Jets with Aaron Rodgers as fitting that bill. But he’s clearly in no hurry to sign, and that signal is now out there to all 32 teams.