A True Ndamukong Suh Revival
January 5th, 2021
For Joe, this was one of the great Bucs surprises of 2020.
Ndamukong Suh turns 34 tomorrow and Joe really didn’t think the beastly veteran defensive tackle would have a special year, a revival year, in his 11th NFL campaign. Few monsters of the defensive trenches can pull that off after so much wear and tear on their bodies.
Warren Sapp had 10 sacks with the Raiders when he was 33 years old. It went hidden in a 2-14 season, but Joe is convinced that year helped Sapp become a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection. (First ballot, not an overall Hall of Famer)
Suh finished this season with six sacks, his most since 2015 in Miami, and his 19 quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss were improvements from last season.
Considering manbeast, defensive-attention-grabbing nose tackle Vita Vea only played in five games before breaking his leg in October, Suh’s accomplishments and production are even more impressive.
This year, Suh put a lot of icing on what likely is a Hall of Fame career, and Joe appreciates how much Suh has embraced the daily grind as one of the wealthiest players in NFL history. Remember, Suh entered the league 2010 as the No. 2 overall pick before the rookie salary cap was in place.
Hopefully, Suh wants to play in Tampa next season, but he might be tough to afford and the Bucs have difficult roster/salary cap decisions ahead.
January 5th, 2021 at 11:36 am
Need to keep him.. He helps set the tone on D.
January 5th, 2021 at 11:38 am
Team friendly contract?
January 5th, 2021 at 11:40 am
Keep him.
January 5th, 2021 at 11:40 am
He is number 2 behind TB in immortality….and top tier in his importance to this team. A true MANBEAST.
Pretty sure he turns it up in the playoffs too!
January 5th, 2021 at 11:47 am
The man is a beast! The craziest thing to me is how in shape the man is for his size and how athletic he his at 34. I do believe he will hit another level come Saturday night. It is his time to shine.
January 5th, 2021 at 11:49 am
He will have to bend to the Bucs salary cap strategy if he wants to play with the Bucs next year… he is a very smart and well spoken man.. he will make the choice
January 5th, 2021 at 11:52 am
Thought for the Day: If we win the Lombardi trophy this year then Suh retires. Otherwise he will come back next year for one last try at getting his ring.
January 5th, 2021 at 11:53 am
Kudos to Suh. I’m glad he is here.
He has a reputation as a mercenary, which is fine. However, I don’t see him going to a different team at this point in his career. If we win a Super Bowl, he might just retire on top. Otherwise, I see him hanging around as long as Brady and the gang are here (and we are still winning)
January 5th, 2021 at 12:21 pm
And suh did it mostly without Vea. Great season Suh!!!!
January 5th, 2021 at 12:22 pm
@Cannon
I agree with your observation. I saw Suh interviewed at the French Open of all places.
He is a “Renaissance Man”. Hard to envision at his size but he’s so much more than just a big guy who can play football.
If the Bucs ever had an IQ test competition for all the players I’d put my money on Suh.
As for age, obviously I’m prejudiced being the old guy here but IMHO Suh could 3-4 more good years if he wants them. He would finish at the age of 38.
In this day and time of SMART players totally taking care of their nutrition and bodies they can play longer. See TB12.
At Suh’s position of DL Reggie White and Chris Doleman both played till 37..that’s three more years for Suh who has been blessed to be largely injury free.
Even long ago back when I was in high school guys like Merlin Olson played till they were 35.
I do not consider Suh’s age a liability. The toughest part about resigning him will be market demand. Perhaps though he’ll give us the “home team” discount.
I find it amusing…my entire life…when owners of business do everything they can including trying to get by minimizing payroll…understandable…why it’s not understandable for an employee to use all of his power to maximize his deal.
Suh is not a mercenary…he’s just incredibly smart. Why should he give owners any freaking discount. It’s called Professional football for a reason.
January 5th, 2021 at 12:37 pm
i would like for us to keep suh…i think he stays on a team friendly deal….
GO BUCS!!!!
January 5th, 2021 at 12:47 pm
we should have drafted him from the start.
January 5th, 2021 at 12:58 pm
Ah, #93 finally makes it to the playoffs. Somewhere out there, GMC weeps.
January 5th, 2021 at 1:07 pm
I suspect many current older players toward the end of their careers will follow Brady’s lead.
At some point, especially in the later years, it’s not just about money.
It’s about a ring. And it’s doubtful there is a better place to chance that ring than on the Brady Bucs.
I suspect Suh, JPP, Gronk & others may take a few $$$ less to stay in Tampa, cap friendly deals. I suspect Brady will, too, after his current deal is over. Not a major hit, but not monster contracts.
These guys have built something special in Tampa in a short time, and they know it.
Imagine if the Bucs played the first half of the season as they have the last half. If only they had an offseason program this pre-season…
Let’s face it: as we get older the prospects of moving to a different city and culture to start over is not particularly appealing.
January 5th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
@Buford, LOL at “93 makes the playoffs.”
…….
To add to, my ^^^last^^^ post, if Brees retires, and I would be surprised if he does not, that means the Division is wide open. Brees, like Brady, is a guy who just can’t be replaced without skipping some beats. All the current Bucs know it.
January 5th, 2021 at 1:10 pm
I think if Suh is chasing a ring….we might get him on a slight discount. If not, Gholston is extremely serviceable IF next to Vea.
January 5th, 2021 at 1:22 pm
Gholston has gone from looking like a DE to more like a DT/Suh build.
He’s really beefed up and finding his spot IMO
January 5th, 2021 at 2:25 pm
With the 2nd pick in the 2021 Buccaneers IQ Test, Leighroy selects: Cameron Brate, Harvard
January 5th, 2021 at 2:35 pm
Let’s face it. There’s no one like VV and when he went down, I figured our D line would not be as good as it is now. It’s because of the work of Suh. He has been great. 1st ballot hall of famer for sure. Look at the body of work.
January 5th, 2021 at 2:55 pm
@Cobra yeah we needed them to play like the first half. 6-2
I get your point though. Think if they win it all, they come back to double up.
Go Bucs
January 5th, 2021 at 3:29 pm
“Hopefully, Suh wants to play in Tampa next season, but he might be tough to afford”. Suh took a $2 mil pay cut THIS YEAR to come back to the Bucs, and I for one am extremely thankful that he did. For everyone talking about him coming back in 2021 at a ‘discount’ I’ll ask the question … ‘WHY SHOULD HE?’ That’s disrespecting what he’s accomplished this year.
Do any one of you REALLY believe that the Bucs could win the Super Bowl WITHOUT Ndamukong Suh this year? He’s been a beast on this DLine. I love Vita Vea, but he’s no Suh when it comes to availability. Vea’s averaged 11 games/season over his 3-year career; Suh has averaged 16 games/season over his 11 year career (he did miss 2 games in his 2nd year; that’s it).
Like I said, he’s THE beast on our DLine. I hope that he’s willing to come back for another year, but I also hope that the Bucs are smart enough to appreciate the high level that he’s still playing at & PAY HIM ACCORDINGLY. Never ceases to amaze me that we’ll pay our OLinemen $10-$15 mil per year, but quibble over paying a future HOF DLineman barely half of that. Wow, just wow.
January 5th, 2021 at 3:51 pm
i agree with @defense rules ^^^^^^^
it’s a no brainer…
gotta bring back Kong Suh…
he’s the man on that line…
and pairing him with a returning Vea and the underrated Gholston makes it the best group of up front beasts…
#Facts #PayTheMan #HeWantsAyeRingBeforeHeRetires
January 5th, 2021 at 4:38 pm
1 more year.
January 5th, 2021 at 5:30 pm
Speaking of VV, any chance of getting him back for the playoffs? I distinctly remember talk that if the team went deep in the playoffs there was a possibility of him returning.
January 5th, 2021 at 5:32 pm
No Vea for playoffs.
January 5th, 2021 at 6:00 pm
Suh should of been our pick. He could of been a life long Buc
January 5th, 2021 at 6:22 pm
Danr. Couldn’t. He was drafted before we picked.
January 5th, 2021 at 6:23 pm
Just like Calvin Johnson was drafted before Gaines Adams.
January 5th, 2021 at 6:24 pm
Or was it Joe Thomas.
In any case, we seemed to be snake bitten those years. Just one or two picks away from a future HOF.
January 5th, 2021 at 6:36 pm
Let me start off by stating I believe that Suh is certainly worth 8-10 mil a year, no question. Possibly more.
However, I believe that it’s possible that Suh would consider staying with us (again) for less than he can make somewhere else and here’s why…
Suh has made just shy of $156 million playing football. No active defensive player has more career earnings than Ndamukong Suh! He doesn’t really “Need” that extra 2 or 3 million some other team might offer. Which is really only 2/3’s of that after taxes plus we have NO state tax!
I believe that if the Bucs can be reasonably competitive in their offer he would be more interested in playing with THIS defense that he has helped make the #1 run D in the NFL!
I also believe he might be a little inspired by the crazy high level of play of Brady who is about a decade older than him. Being around players of that caliber is rare and legit inspirational even for a stud like Suh.
There are lots of good vibes on this team as a whole and with our defense. Player chemistry, attitude, accountability, all things you want to be a part of as an athlete. Players love & respect coach Bowles. Everything I’ve ever heard about Suh being here is that he actually really likes it here both as a Buc and living in Tampa.
All these things and probably more indicate to me that as long as he felt like the Bucs were honestly paying him what they could currently afford, he would rather play here than anywhere else. Making a couple million more to him at this point in his life is likely not worth moving again, relearning a whole new system and giving up his place on a #1 rated Run Defense that he straight up helped create!
I absolutely hope we can pay him enough to keep him here next year and maybe beyond. Perhaps a 2-3 year contract with incentives? With Suh, Vea, and JPP on the D line and White as one of the scariest LB’s in the game, we should be crazy good in the trenches for the next couple of years.
January 5th, 2021 at 7:12 pm
Suh has been solid at worst during his time with us and I really hope that we can keep him.
January 5th, 2021 at 7:19 pm
GMC was as good a player as Suh. Suh has a nasty rep for playing dirty. Period. He leaves, good riddance. We need to draft a couple of DLinemen.
January 5th, 2021 at 8:49 pm
Why is this fan base so dumb? How could we have of picked suh? Cam was #1. Suh was 2. Mccoy 3. So please arm chair gms, please explain to us how were we suppose to pick suh? Carolina was going to pick Cam. Detriot like most had suh rated higher than mccoy so how were we suppose to suh? Please enlighten us with your madden gm skills
January 5th, 2021 at 9:56 pm
Pay the man.
January 6th, 2021 at 12:45 am
NDominate King Kong Suh. I need you to push the pocket until it a permanent hole in that botch. They wanna get Tom you smack Alex around for me. Don’t hurt him to bad because I was in his corner until he got us. Impose your will on the deadskins until they find a name. I wanna say Suuuuuuuuh!
January 6th, 2021 at 4:06 pm
Trade or release Smith free up 14 mil draft an offensive tackle with first pick. Trade or release Brate or OJ free up 6 mil. With the extra 20 mil resign Suh, Gronk, Wells and David. Then Licht work his magic and sign Godwin or Shaq.