Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
SUH’S FUTURE AN ISSUE
Dave Hyde: It comes down to money, his deal with Dolphins.
It’s hard to imagine the Dolphins would move on from their best player having his best year [and] weaken the defense.
Let’s start here: Ndamukong Suh is the best player on the Miami Dolphins. He’s better at what he does than any other Dolphins player is at what they do.
That’s not just obvious this season, but so is the manner he’s taken on a new role of leadership in helping two rookie defensive tackles as opposed to the solo manner he acted inside the team his first year in 2015.
This is why, if a CBS Sports report came out last summer rather than Sunday saying the Dolphins would move on from Suh and his hefty contract it would be met with less question.
The Dolphins were debating that issue last summer, too. When a team source suggested then Suh’s days could be numbered, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was it real? Was it a prelude to a contract shakedown? Did a roster starved for stars really dislike Suh and his oversized contract enough to let him go?
So when the report came out Sunday that Suh won’t return to the Dolphins in 2018, all those same questions were asked — only louder considering the year he is having.
The Dolphins dismissed the report as “100 percent” not true. And it arrives at a stressful time for them in midseason just off a stark, 40-0 loss in Baltimore.
But it’s a good time to take some measure of just where the Dolphins are with Suh
considering by next year his salary cap number would be a staggering $26 million.
This might be more in line with what Sunday’s report is about. It’s hard to imagine the Dolphins would move on from their best player having his best year in a manner that would significantly weaken the defense.
But would they want to re-do the contract to make it go down a little easier? Probably. Would Suh be amenable to that? Probably if it meant more money in some form.
The report suggests Suh would be let go because of a series of actions like Thursday night’s semi-strangling of Baltimore’s Ryan Mallett. Hmm. And it uses a sleight-of-sourcing hand to suggest Dolphins owner Steve Ross has prime ownership of this Suh decision. (“A source close to owner Steve Ross,” it reads.) Hmm. Ross pushed hard to sign Suh. He likes big names that make big headlines. Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier, the Dolphins personnel braintrust, also were on board when Suh signed in 2015. Sure, things can change.
But there’s been one overriding change since Suh signed, and a change Ross likes even more than making a big splash. Ross likes his coach, Adam Gase. Like most things Dolphins right now, this is Gase’s decision. And Gase’s philosophy. And Gase’s call. Is Suh a Gase guy? That’s the over-riding issue. Buffalo’s Sean McDermott is the latest NFL coach to show you can move on from talented players — Sammy Watkins, Marcell Dareus — and win.
There were questions of outsized Suh influence until this year. For instance, the Wide-9 defense was something he liked. Former defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had never coached it before, which is an odd way to do business.
There’s also this: The Dolphins new philosophy is to give big contracts to their drafted and developed players (Reshad Jones, Kenny Stills, Andre Branch, Kiko Alonso …) rather than going out and buying the shiniest free agent.
“How do you think Cam Wake felt when they gave Suh all that money?” a Dolphins source said last summer.
Angry. Betrayed. Jealous. Maybe all the above to various degrees. But perhaps also realizing that’s how NFL business is done on some level.
Still, we’re into Year 3 of Suh on the Dolphins and Year 2 with Gase. And, again, Suh is playing great this season. He’s dominant. He’s back on track toward putting together a Hall of Fame career and he’s going out of his way to help teammates in a manner he didn’t at his Dolphins start.
Still, there’s that $26 million cap number. There’s still the question if any defensive tackle could be worth that much. All the guaranteed money is paid out now. And do you realize how much financial pain they’d have to suffer to get rid of Suh for next year?
Because this would be painful. The Dolphins would take a $9 million cap hit but save $17 million in cap money in 2018 by designating Suh as a post-June 1 cut next spring. That would trigger another big cap hit in 2019 (CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora put the number at $13 million).
Then again, if they wait until after June 1 they have all that money tied up. So, again this becomes an accounting issue as much as a personnel issue — in fact, it’s mainly an accounting issue.
Bottom-line: Suh might not be back in 2018. Again, those talks started inside the Dolphins last summer. The prime issues, though, go beyond hands around a throat or the owner.
It’s his growing contract versus a dominant game. It’s Gase’s philosophy and offseason decisions. It’s also mainly whether you can weaken the defense at a time the offense needs all kinds of help.
The question is if the Dolphins can afford — not in dollars, in talent — to lose him? October isn’t the time stamp on that. February is. Stay tuned.