Suggs Hits The Jackpot, Ravens Defense Solidified

Terrell Suggs has hit the jackpot; he is now the highest paid linebacker in the history of the NFL.  Yesterday, Terrell Suggs inked a 6-year, $63 million dollar deal with the Baltimore Ravens and will be part of the Ravens’ D until he is 32, in 2015.  It is definitely a big day for the Ravens as they signed the future star of the Raven’s defense.  Once Ray Lewis realizes his best days are behind him and decides to get out of town, T-Sizzle will be the king of the defense.

Terrell Suggs, 26, was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft as the 10^th overall selection.  However, most people did not know this little tidbit; the Ravens didn’t really plan on drafting Suggs at #10.  They were planning on taking a QB with the 10^th pick, either Carson Palmer or Byron Leftwich, but they were taken 1^st and 7^th, respectively.  They did however trade their 2004 1^st round pick in order to get Kyle Boller, nice work guys.  They missed out on the 2004 quarterback coalition, Big Ben, Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers.  But, I love Terrell as a player, and the Ravens did make the right choice taking Terrell at 10.

Terrell Suggs will solidify the left side of the line backing core.  Jarret Johnson, 27, is locked up until 2012, so the Ravens are set on the outside for years to come.  It’s the inside that I’m worried about.  Ray Lewis is 34 years old.  He is passing his prime and is moving into a more motivational role.  The other inside linebackers on the roster includes Brendon Ayanbadejo, Tavares Gooden, Jameel McClain, Jason Phillips (unsigned) and Dannell Ellerbe.  I think Gooden and Phillips can fill the void left by Lewis.  Jameel McClain is also a good addition at linebacker, but is probably better off at an outside linebacker position.

However, Gooden, Phillips and McClain are still young and have not fully developed into top quality stars yet.  And they don’t seem like they will be within the next two seasons.  There will definitely be a position battle for the second middle linebacker position come Training Camp and pre-season.  I think it will be between these three linebackers.  However, maybe one of the other remaining linebackers can step up and fill the spot.  Despite me saying all of this, I still think the Ravens have one of the best line backing cores in the National Football League.

Terrell Suggs was franchised back in February and a deal was not expected to be made, because 2 ½ weeks passed after they said they were close, but nothing happened and the deadline was less than a day away.  Two days ago Terrell said that he was optimistic about getting his contract worked out before yesterday’s deadline, and he was right and the deal was reached six hours ahead of the 4pm deadline for NFL franchised players. 

Terrell Suggs is now the highest paid defensive player in the history of the National Football League.  Out of the $63 million dollars in his contract, $38 million is in guaranteed money and $33 million dollars in bonuses.  His bonuses ranked second only behind Peyton Manning who received $34 million dollars in bonuses.  The reason Suggs is getting paid so much, because he is a hybrid.  He can play linebacker as well as defensive line.  Terrell is now entering his prime and will be one of the top linebackers in the National Football League.  Terrell will receive $40 million dollars in the next two years.

Ray Lewis now must step aside and let Terrell take over because he is the future, and you are the past.  Terrell Suggs is now the foundation that defense can rebuild on over the next couple of years.  In three years from now, Ray Lewis will be living the life of a retired football star, and may go bankrupt like many former sports celebrities have down in the past.  But, that’s a whole other topic that I don’t feel like talking about.  Ray Lewis is the best player in the history of the Ravens, but Terrell Suggs will be the best player of the future for the Ravens.  Well, I think Haloti Ngata could take the spot, but they will be a close 1-2.

The defense is now solidified up front.  The Ravens will have one of the best linebacker-defensive line combos.  Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, Jarret Johnson, Ray Lewis, Kelly Gregg, Dwan Edwards, Brandon McKinney and Justin Bannan make up 80% of the Ravens stellar defense.  The other 20% include Dominique Foxworth, Ed Reed, Dawan Landry and Tom Zbikowski.  Now that may not work out to be completely true there on the math, but you get the point.  The strength of the Ravens D comes from up front; the rest is the secondary, which still needs improvement.  The Ravens defense is great, but the offense, which made improvements, still needs some work to become great, but that is for another day.

Now, after reading this article you may think that I think Ray Lewis is a washed up ex-convict who is well past his prime and will be bankrupt within 8 years, but I truly respect Ray and everything he has done for the Ravens organization, including helping Baltimore get a Super Bowl title.  However the things that I said were probably 90% percent true or will come true in near or long-term future.  If you are one of the people who don’t like me now because I trashed the hometown hero, than stop reading this column.  It is called The Edge because I write on the edge and the whole point is to trash people and point out their flaws and write about topics you don’t think about.  To all those people who read this and hated it, go and praise your pictures of Ray-Ray and go out and say that Ray is the best and when all these things come true, come crawling back and read The Edge, the truth about sports.