FanPost

Ndamukong Suh to Seattle Seahawks?

Reports have surfaced that Ndamukong Suh’s number one choice to sign with in free agency is the Seattle Seahawks. The thought of adding the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL to a Seahawks line that already boasts Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril among others is intoxicating.

The New York Giants twice proved against the New England Patriots in Super Bowls that you cannot have too many good pass rushers. The Seahawks signing of Suh would also elevate an already good defense into a great one.

While the 2013 defense was great, it’s hard to call the current unit that due to the fact that it recently gave up a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl. Injuries can be blamed, but there are injuries every year.

Before we get too excited, we need to remember that the Detroit Lions can slap the franchise tag on Suh. However, the franchise designation would cost the Lions an almost unrealistic $26 million so there is a good chance that Suh will be the greatest defensive lineman to hit free agency since Reggie White left the Philadelphia Eagles for the Green Bay Packers in 1993.

Normally, free agent splashes are not the way to go in terms of sustained success in the NFL. The best blueprint in building a team is to draft well and keep your own, such as what the Seahawks have been doing with the likes of Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Richard Sherman, or K.J. Wright and what they will be doing with Russell Wilson and Bobby Wagner among others. However, every once in a while there comes a player who is so special that you are willing to bend the rules, just as Green Bay once did in signing White.

What makes the Seahawks unique to every other team in the NFL in potentially signing Suh is the fact that he is from the Pacific Northwest and claims that he wants to win first and foremost. If anyone would like to question the sincerity of Suh wanting to win more than anything can watch his post-game press conference after the Lions were defeated by the Dallas Cowboys in the play-offs last month. It seems that winning is indeed a priority for him.

Suh isn’t the normal free agent coming off of a modest, by NFL standards, rookie contract and looking to cash in on contract number two. He has already been paid, as he’s already pocketed over $60 million during his five-year career.

With that being said, he’s also not going to play for peanuts. However, just how much less would he be willing to take to have an opportunity to play for a proven winner and, more importantly, on a team that is still young and considered among the favorites to be playing in the Super Bowl again next year and in the coming years?

People in all walks of life want to be paid what they feel is their market value. It’s a sign of respect. Athletes are no different. However, athletes aren’t remembered nearly as much if they weren’t champions on the field. Ndamukong Suh is currently a great player with a half-decade in the NFL experience and still searching for his first ever play-off win.

Suh is traveling down the career path of former Seahawk greats Kenny Easley and Jacob Green. Each of those players were among the greatest to play their position during their careers except they failed to not only win a Super Bowl, but to even make it to the big game. Had either Green or Easley played for the San Francisco 49ers or the New York Giants in their heyday, they would be Hall of Famers. Since they don’t have the hardware of Super Bowl Champions, history has largely forgotten them outside of Seattle.

Does Suh want to win or does he want to be shown more money? Sure, the Seahawks would still have to pay him, but how much less would he be willing to accept from the ‘Hawks over a team such as the Oakland Raiders who are another West Coast team closer to his home with oodles of cap space, yet with an overall roster that won’t scare anyone, even with his addition and another potential free agent splash?

If the Lions choose not to slap the franchise tag on Suh, we’ll find out if he’s about adding himself to an already impressive defense and taking it to another level in a very rare opportunity to be a frontrunner to win a Super Bowl or if he’s about adding more money to his bank account. Actions speak louder than words and we’ll find out by mid-March if he wants more money or a realistic shot at some hardware that gives athletes respect and pride in their accomplishments.

Respect and pride is something no amount of money can buy.