Baltimore Ravens: What should the team do with Terrell Suggs?
Terrell Suggs is a legendary Baltimore Raven and a future Hall of Famer, but how smart would it be for the team to resign him for 2019?
Terrell Suggs will not only be remembered as an all-time great Baltimore Raven, but as one of the best pass-rushers of the last 20-years. Dating back to 2003, Suggs has been consistently one of the top players at his position. Suggs’ 132.5 career sacks (16-seasons) speak volumes to his expertise, as does his seven Pro Bowl nods and his 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year award. Suggs is undoubtedly a surefire Hall of Famer when he retires, and it feels like he’ll just keep trucking along.
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The question remains though, what should the Ravens do with Terrell Suggs? The man dubbed “T-Sizzle” will turn 37-years old in October and is currently listed as an Unrestricted Free Agent for 2019. Suggs’ production did take a step back this season, moving from 11 in 2017 to just seven this past season. As Suggs continues to age, his production will continue to steadily decline. While it isn’t entirely his fault for this, it’s simply how the lifespan of a NFL player works.
The fact that Terrell Suggs has remained productive into his late 30’s is an achievement in itself. He will certainly find himself on someone’s roster in 2018, but will that roster be the Baltimore Ravens?
Naturally, the nostalgic fan in us all wants Suggs to remain a Raven for life. Thinking about T-Sizzle in any jersey that isn’t of the Baltimore Ravens is a sickening thought. Ravens Flock had to witness this when Ed Reed played his final season (2013) with the Houston Texans and New York Jets. The last thing fans want is to relive this horror.
However, as we hear time and time again the NFL is a business; there’s no room for sympathy and feelings. Whatever a team needs to do to win football games, they’ll do it. For the Ravens, winning football games is done through defense. The team is historically a defensive dominant unit and that remains true even 23-years later. The defense has always been captained by veterans who know the defense inside and out, and that’s precisely what Terrell Suggs is, and has been for years now.
So then, what should the Ravens do with Terrell Suggs? Resign him. Suggs is a staple of the team’s identity, let alone its defense, and remains one of its best players. Suggs represents the epitome of how the Ravens successfully rush the passer, and no one player on this defense has been as consistently good at that other than T-Sizzle himself.
While resigning fellow pass rusher Za’Darius Smith should remain a priority, Suggs is by far the more proven commodity, which should make him more vital to bring back. Suggs’ consistency for the Baltimore Ravens is what makes the team tick. Even at his old-age, Terrell Suggs remains one of the best in the league, and you simply can’t let someone like him walk away in Free Agency.