Whether it was the reported dissociation with his teammates or firing his agent during a vital negotiating period with Detroit, we have further proof that former Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh wanted nothing to do with the Motor City or signing a new deal with the team.
According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, Suh was front and center for the Dolphins’ offseason program something Florio points out that Suh was often times absent from in Detroit.
It’s a new day for Ndamukong Suh and the Dolphins. The man who consistently opted not to volunteer for large chunks of the voluntary offseason program in Detroit has shown up in Miami for the launch of Phase One of non-mandatory workouts.
According to the Dolphins, Suh is present and accounted for.
Now before fans start clamoring on about it being Suh’s right to play for any team he wants I agree. Loyalty in any sense is a huge bonus for a team and fan base when you’re dealing with a multi-billion dollar business like the National Football League. There’s a ton of money to be made out there especially when you’re talking about one of the best defensive players in the game. Suh may not totally deserve the nearly $60 million in guaranteed money he’s about to receive but he certainly deserves to play in a city of his choosing.
What all of this latest regrading Suh is really about is the continued mismanagement within that Lions front office centered on Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew. Sure Suh’s participation in the offseason program in Miami is all hindsight but as fans we can’t but help be reminded of what now looks like blind persistence in the pursuit of getting Suh re-signed. Essentially the Lions lost arguably their best defensive player for nothing while instead trying to chase some nonsensical Super Bowl dream in 2014. Sure the Lions are going to be in a better place without the Suh contract on the books but we can’t credit Mayhew and Lewand for that one. Remember they waited until just about zero hour trying to hammer out a deal with Suh which we later heard wasn’t that much less than the Miami offer. Not to mention the Detroit front office duo tried to play it off as if they didn’t want to keep the defensive tackle after the deal in South Beach was finalized. Imagine though Detroit having the benefit of trading Suh last season while potentially opening themselves up tot he possibility of negotiating with him once again during the offseason? (which was a possibility)
A better place two-fold.