For Colts, 5 Frontline Free Agents to Avoid
Dec 21, 2014; Chicago, IL, USA; Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (90) talks with umpire Bruce Stritesky (102) against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. The Lions defeated the Bears 20-14. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Number 1: Ndamukong Suh, Defensive Tackle
Player: Ndamukong Suh
Age: 28
Ht/Wt: 6’4″, 307 pounds
Buyers Remorse: There’s no doubt that Suh is one of the most dominating and best defensive players in the NFL. The 2nd overall pick of the 2010 NFL Draft would give any defense he joins some nastiness and a tremendous interior presence inside at defensive takle. However, due to his massive price tag, the Colts should “just say no“.
"“After signing a contract in September of this past year that made Watt the highest paid defensive player on a 6-year, $100MM contract (including $51.86MM guaranteed), Suh is projected to surpass that mark. He’s not only expected to exceed Watt’s $100MM threshold, but also the $103MM bar recently raised by fellow defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. To put that in perspective, that’s an anticipated cap hit of $13.2-15MM annually based on both Watt and McCoy’s recent mega-contracts. That’s right around the 2015 cap hit of Tom Brady at $14MM. Issue is, Suh isn’t touching the football for roughly half of the game, but is set to be paid as much as an elite NFL quarterback.”"
If the Colts were one player away from being a well-oiled Super Bowl Championship machine, then Suh would make a great deal of sense. Yet, there are a number of glaring holes as evident by the team’s embarrassing 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots in this year’s AFC Championship game.
Signing Suh to such a massive chunk of the team’s salary cap doesn’t solve them all. He’s not going to block for the Colts running backs or catch critical passes from Andrew Luck, and he can’t cover Julian Edelman on crucial 3rd down throws.
What the team would use to pay just Suh annually could be used to bring in two key free agents, maybe even ones that we’ve previously covered like San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore, New England Patriots safety Devin McCourty, Arizona Cardinals nose tackle Big Dan Williams, San Francisco 49ers guard Mike Iupati, or Kansas City Chiefs center Rodney Hudson, just to name a few.
The Colts would be better served building a better overall team, rather than have their success depend solely on the talents of a few superstar players. Isn’t that what owner Jim Irsay wanted to avoid after all with his pointed “Star Wars” comment made at former Indianapolis Colts great Peyton Manning?
He wants more balanced and complete teams that win more championships, rather than simply put up gaudy statistics. By signing Suh, nearly 25% of the Colts projected salary cap would be tied up in just two players when factoring in Luck’s impending mega-contract extension.