Nightmare scenario for Buccaneers with free agent on the horizon again
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers have made it clear that Ndamukong Suh is not a part of their future plans. Could he land with a team that plays the Bucs twice a year?
Ndamukong Suh is a free agent and is almost assuredly not re-signing with the Buccaneers this offseason. The Bucs decided to target the younger but injury-prone Akiem Hicks as another huge body to pair with Vita Vea, and while this is a tough pill to swallow, it doesn’t leave room for Suh.
Now, Suh is on the open market and his options are limited.
Some people believe the Raiders is a decent fit, but Suh would still be signing with a team that should finish fourth in their division, and the money is tight.
As teams start to finalize where their rosters are at, there isn’t a huge need for an expensive veteran like Suh across the league. The situation is starting to look like what happened with Gerald McCoy, and that got this writer thinking….
What if Suh follows McCoy’s lead and stays in the NFC South?
This would be a gut-punch, but as we see the opportunities close up and the money only being in certain places, it seems like there is a fit for Suh in a place where he will play the Bucs twice a year.
The Atlanta Falcons could give Suh the money and the reps. They have plenty of cap space to sign Suh for the remainder of his career, and they have an opening on their defensive line that runs pretty hot and cold.
The Falcons have a few new faces on the line competing for roles, but Suh would give more of a proven commodity to pair with Grady Jarrett.
Suh gets his money, the Falcons get another proven starter and veteran leader to help during a rebuild, and Tampa has to face another vitally-important former defensive lineman in the division.
Atlanta is far from glamorous for a guy like Ndamukong Suh at this stage of his career, but there aren’t a lot of contenders lining up for Suh one way or another.
It is nice that some prime fits came with bad teams (Panthers with McCoy and Falcons with Suh), but no Bucs fan wants to see these guys in those ugly jerseys either way.
Perhaps something opens up with a different team (hopefully in the AFC) that will take Suh out of the conference, but the fit in Atlanta does seem good if he feels like that is his best option.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t happen again.
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