Buccaneers losing ground with veteran free agent actually a good thing

Ndamukong Suh is reportedly starting to get interest in free agency from teams other than the Buccaneers. This is actually a good thing for Tampa.

The Buccaneers do not need Ndamukong Suh. Better put, the Buccaneers do not need Suh when his price tag is close to where it was at last season.

Suh is a great player and a huge reason why this defense turned around over the last few years. The Bucs have a ring, and Suh played a role, but we don’t need to start over-inflating anyone’s value to the roster when there are many areas of need for the team.

The Bucs not having a deal in place with Suh by this point is already telling. If Suh wanted to play for a cheap deal and help this team compete, he would already be out there. The wait tells us that Suh wants more on the money side, and that is fine. Let the Browns or Raiders pay him.

These two teams are in a unique situation of being involved in the nuclear arms race that is the AFC. Every signing counts, and they are correctly believed to be willing to overspend on the free agent market if it makes it seem like they are ready and able to compete.

If teams like that truly are in the mix, the Bucs probably won’t be able to match the offer. That is fine.

As mentioned, the Bucs don’t need Suh. They will need veteran depth to help out as Logan Hall transitions to being a starter, but there are cheaper guys out there than Suh that can do just as much for this defensive line. Vita Vea and William Gholston are the focus either way. Paying Suh just eats into the already-limited cap space that needs to go towards other areas.

It would hurt to see Suh go after all this time, but it is probably the right move at this point. There is still time for this pairing to make up and go on to compete for a Super Bowl in 2022, but we wouldn’t bet on it, and that’s ok.

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