Could Ndamukong Suh be ready to visit the Patriots this week?
The Patriots had a handful of NFL players in for visits late last week and wound up signing three – defensive end Adrian Clayborn (Falcons), running back Jeremy Hill (Bengals), and offensive lineman Matt Tobin (Eagles).
The Clayborn signing was the biggest get, and it’s become obvious that the Patriots primary goal this off-season has been to reinvent its defensive line. The Pats were not able to generate much of a pass-rush in key games this past season, most notably the Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia, and believe getting upgrades in that area will help solve many of the overall issues with the defense.
The Pats have already traded for Browns defensive tackle Danny Shelton, and adding Suh would be the very nasty cherry on top of this sundae. The question now is – how realistic is signing Suh?
Suh visited the Saints on Saturday, and has a meeting set up with the Tennessee Titans this week as well.
The former Dolphins and Lions star is “taking his time to evaluate his plethora of options with his family,” according to Yahoo Sports’ Jordan Schultz. The Seahawks are also said to be strongly interested in landing Suh in free agency.
The Patriots are not a team to engage in a bidding war, particularly when it comes to a big name like Suh and the type of money he will command. But the Patriots are hopeful that if they are in the ballpark of the other teams, that Suh will choose them based on their winning reputation.
That may be wishful thinking on New England’s part, based on reports that Suh is first and foremost concerned about money and will go to the top bidder.
Follow the money and that’s where Suh will land https://t.co/Lk2SCR7v63
— Michael Lombardi (@mlombardiNFL) March 18, 2018
At the same time, Suh will find it difficult to get a whopper of a deal considering there have been plenty of other good defensive tackles on the market this offseason – many of which have already signed with other teams (Muhammad Wilkerson – Packers, Sheldon Richardson – Vikings, Star Lotulelei – Bills, Dontari Poe – Panthers).
