Bucs lock up Suh, keep defense intact
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continue to re-assemble pieces to help Tom Brady be successful with his new team.
Keeping an improved defense together was one of the club’s top priorities in free agency. Re-signing tackle Ndamukong Suh to a one-year, $8 million contract on Friday ensures the entire front seven will remain intact for next season.
The move comes on the heels on placing the franchise tag on NFL sacks leader Shaquil Barrett, resigning linebacker Jason PierrePaul to a two-year, $27 million deal, and luring Brady from New England with $50 million guaranteed and the chance to join some dynamic young offensive playmakers.
The Bucs led the NFL in run defense in 2019, with Suh starting all 16 games after helping the Los Angeles Rams reach the Super Bowl the previous season.
“The No. 1 goal for me coming out of last season was to continue to build on defense. The only way to build is to keep everyone in place and grow. It’s huge,” coach Bruce Arians said.
“They’ll be so far ahead of our offense, if and when we get back out on the field. I think our offense will catch up pretty fast,” Arians added.
Bears ink Graham
The Chicago Bears finalized a two-year contract with former All
Pro tight end Jimmy Graham and one-year deals with six other players on Thursday.
The Bears hope Graham can give them more production at a position where they got little last season, and help boost an offense that ranked among the NFL’s worst.
A five-time Pro Bowl selection, he has 7,883 yards receiving and 74 touchdown catches in 10 seasons with New Orleans, Seattle and Green Bay. He spent his first five years with the Saints, when Chicago general manager Ryan Pace worked in their front office.
Graham was an All-Pro for New Orleans in 2013 when he had 1,215 yards and led the NFL with 16 touchdown receptions. He had 447 yards and three touchdowns for Green Bay last season and was released two weeks ago by the Packers after two years.
League offers help
The NFL hosted a virtual meeting for current and former players along with their significant others to share financial advice and answer questions in the wake of the new coronavirus pandemic.
About 200 people participated in the hour-long webinar on Thursday.
“That tells me a lot of guys are invested in their future,” New York Jets receiver Jehu Chesson said later in a telephone interview. “It’s a good time to hunker down and look at changes you want to make in this time of ambiguity in all of our lives.
“I think it’s extremely helpful that the NFL did this for all of us, helping guys improve their financial literacy.”
The league’s program, “Navigating a financial crisis, a response to COVID-19,” provided information on budgeting, keeping businesses running and managing investments in the fluctuating stock market.
Len Middleton, a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship at the University of Michigan, said he worked with colleagues at the school, NFL officials and Money Management International executives to put together the program on short notice.
“It really was a team effort after we came up with this idea just a week ago,” Middleton said. “To get that many guys on the call was terrific.”