Should the Patriots take a run at Ndamukong Suh?

Ndamukong Suh has always been something of a gamble over the course of his career. Should the Patriots roll the dice on the defensive tackle, who remains on the market? It’s an intriguing possibility, one that would have a ripple effect on their team-building approach for the rest of the offseason.


Let’s start with the biggest question: financial. Last year, Suh played on a one-year, $14 million deal with the Rams, a smart play for Los Angeles in that it had a supremely motivated defensive tackle on what was really a show-me contract. I can’t imagine it would be the same sort of situation this time around. If you’re the Patriots, you’d have to find a way to get creative. Whether that meant continuing to move around some of your own money to get more financially flexible (a redone deal for Tom Brady could help) or Suh taking a little less than anticipated, it would be an obstacle. Not saying it’s insurmountable — just saying it’s something you’d have to take into account. For what it’s worth, our guy Miguel says a two-year, $26 million contract would be a fair deal for Suh.

The other thing to remember, at least from a financial perspective, is that this sort of move doesn’t take place in a vacuum. A lot of this would depend on the size of a potential Suh deal, but there’s no denying that it would impact the rest of their team-building approach the rest of the offseason. First, it would more than likely take them out of the running for anything resembling a seismic trade on offense — it might take you out of the running for someone like Emmanuel Sanders or Kyle Rudolph. (Again, you could move some money around, but that might be too much to ask at this point.)

Consequently, it would also have an impact on the draft process. While the addition of Suh would mean defensive tackle would move way down on the list of draft weekend priorities, wide receiver and tight end (which has already grown in importance since Rob Gronkowski’s retirement) would theoretically be vital come draft weekend. Does this mean you’d shed some of those picks and trade up for the likes of T.J. Hockenson? Or is there a defensive tackle in the draft who you believe has more upside and more value (at least in the long term) than Suh? All questions that have to be raised at this point in the process.

But if the Patriots and Suh are able to find a way to make it work, the prospect of facing a New England defensive line with Suh alongside Michael Bennett and Lawrence Guy would be a sizable challenge for any offensive line. Suh, who turned 32 in January, is still very durable — he played a whopping 888 defensive snaps last year, second only to teammate Aaron Donald among Los Angeles’ defensive linemen. (For some context, no New England defensive lineman played more snaps last year than Trey Flowers, who had 732.) And he’s never played less than 14 games in a season. We know the Patriots love players with positional versatility, and Suh has lined up at a variety of spots along the defensive front over the course of his career.

“He’s a pretty special talent,” Bill Belichick said of Suh in December 2017. “He’s not always in the middle of the line, though. Last week, they put him out on the end in that overload front and he caused some problems out there. So, they’ve moved him around more this year than probably they did last year. So, he’s normally on the right but not always. He’s on the left plenty, and he’s even at end on some snaps. They’ve even stood him up a few times, not really as a linebacker but stood him up so it didn’t declare as clearly exactly where he is or what the front was. So, identifying him and making sure that we have that right, I mean, that’s one thing."

And while it’s unclear what sort of long-term goals he might have, it’s important to note in the context of this conversation that he hasn’t won a ring over the course of his career. (The closest he came was last year with the Rams.) It depends on who else might jump into the process, but this contract could represent his last, best chance to complete the final line of what could end up being a Hall of Fame resume.

The last thing to keep in mind — and granted, it’s a relatively small thing when compared to the other, more practical parts of this argument — are Belichick’s feelings toward the player. We all know he’s capable of pumping up an opponent, but his consistent appreciation of the likes of Suh and his playing style since he arrived in the league is something that really stands out.

“He changes everything, you can't let him penetrate or he'll foul the whole play up,” Belichick told NFL Network a few years ago. “You've got to be able to secure him on the line of scrimmage and again, that's a lot easier said than done, because of his talent and also some of the different looks they give you. He's very disruptive in both the running and passing game. He's got great effort. He makes plays in pursuit and on the backside. So, really there is no weakness to his game. He's got to be blocked on every play no matter what the play is.”

Ultimately, it’s undeniable that the idea of adding a disruptive player like Suh to the New England defensive front would be a big splash and create an even greater buzz around the defending Super Bowl champions. In the end, what the Patriots have to decide at this point is whether or not the ripples caused by such an acquisition would be worth it for the rest of the roster, both financially and otherwise.