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15 Jul 2009
Ravens Show Suggs the Money
The Baltimore Ravens have signed endbacker Terrell Suggs to a six-year, $63 million contract which will pay him $33.1 million in signing and option bonuses in 2009 and 2010, and $40 million overall in those two years. According to ESPN's John Clayton, this makes Suggs' deal the second-richest bonus haul ever, behind Peyton Manning's $34 million. Had Suggs not come to terms with the Ravens by 4:00 PM today, negotiations would have stopped for the season and Suggs would have played under a one-year franchise tender of $10.17 million.
PFT/NBC's Mike Florio breaks the deal down here.
15 comments, Last at 15 Jul 2009, 5:42pm by CBPodge
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Comments
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Hooray! Suggs might not put up gaudy sack numbers, but he probably is the most well rounded of the elite OLBs in the league when considering his rush defense and pass coverage (especially against screens,) along with his considerable pass rush ability.
Hopefully the Ravens will soon turn their attention to Ngata and lock him down too.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Seems like a bad idea to me. Why not let him play for the tender and save yourself 15-20 mil over the next two years?
He's just going to be upset playing for 5m/yr in years 3-6 in his prime anyway.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Interesting point. If the money really is that heavily front-loaded, we might be hearing the cries of "underpaid" from Mr. Suggs in about 4 years.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
I can't really see Suggs making that argument since he's the highest paid LB in the history of the game at this point. Do you see Ed Reed complaining about his contract? Reed is a bargain now, but when he signed his massive extension it was the best contract for a Safety by a long shot.
Besides, signing Suggs means the Ravens can use the franchise tag on another player and retain Suggs, instead of having Suggs for only 2 years. (Suggs for 6 + Franchise tag) > (Suggs for 2 + no franchise tag), especially since the Ravens can afford him now. The cap hit for Suggs might actually go down this year too, allowing the Ravens to shell out for another WR.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
His tenure as the highest paid LB in NFL history will be short-- a DeMarcus Ware extension is going to happen sooner or later.
Michael Strahan's complaints about his contract in his last few years in the league weren't hindered by the fact that said contract had a higher total value than any previous contract for a defensive player.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Didn't Richard Seymour sign a heavily front-loaded contract with the Pats a few years ago?
I don't think this compares with the Eagles' history with long-term contracts. Suggs might be underpaid in years 3-6, but he's among the highest paid players in the league in years 1-2. I don't think any of the 'controversial' Eagles contracts ever did anything of the sort.
Combine the possibility of an uncapped year coming up with the possibility of a future decrease in the salary cap due to a slowing economy, this seems like it works out to a good deal for everyone - Suggs gets loads of cash up front, and the franchise gets more flexibility later on.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
It doesn't have anything to do with the Eagles' contract practices. It has to do with human nature. People sometimes have a way of forgetting the whole "advanced compensation for future services" thing, and turning it into "I was getting $20 million a year, and now I only get $5 million a year." Combine that with the fact that $5 million per year will almost certainly NOT be top-tier LB money in another few years, and it's possible that Suggs might suddenly fell slighted. Not saying it's right; just saying it happens sometimes, especially if the player starts living a $20 million per year lifestyle. Having your paycheck drop by 75% can be a shock if you haven't prepared for it. Some players are smarter about that than others, just like any other segment of society.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
People sometimes have a way of forgetting the whole "advanced compensation for future services" thing, and turning it into "I was getting $20 million a year, and now I only get $5 million a year."
I doubt they're forgetting. Most people want to earn more money, and saying "well, I am well paid, but I want to be even more well paid!" doesn't play well in the media or with front offices.
Not saying it's right; just saying it happens sometimes, especially if the player starts living a $20 million per year lifestyle.
I think a lot of the problem with the Eagles players recently is probably due to the market. If the players are getting an aggressive return for their investment, that early signing bonus looks fantastic. But when the market tanks and your money's now worth less than when you put it in, yeah, you're going to be upset - especially because the NFL's value hasn't tanked, and so now you look *very* underpaid.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
I started out with quotes around "forgetting" but removed them because the sentence got a little too quote-heavy. But trust me, I meant it snidely.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Well its $43m over the first 3 years, so its basically this years franchise tag money for 3 years. So even if they need to do a new deal then they are basically no worse off than they are now.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Damnit!
Sincerely,
A steelers fan
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Endbacker.
Nice.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Ralph Friedgen call the position the "Leo" (linebacker-end-option), I guess so Leo can hang out with Mike, Will, and Sam.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Good deal for both Suggs and the Ravens. He's a complete defender, and put in the time in the film room to improve his coverage skills. Definitely time to start looking at locking up Ngata now.
Re: Ravens Show Suggs the Money
Well, I have no way of predicting how people will behave in the future, other than to say it is likely their future behavior will resemble their past behavior. What I do know is that a guy who is a complete defender, including the ability to be dominant with an outside pass rush, is only surpassed in value by a dominant quarterback. The Ravens have risked their money wisely.
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