NFL New York Giants

New York Giants Have No Room For Ndamukong Suh

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By @mturnerny

Ndamukong Suh New York Giants

Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports

With their loss over the weekend, the Detroit Lions’ season is officially over. That means, once free agency begins, superstar and beleaguered defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is free to sign with any team he chooses. Rumors are that he would love to play for either the New York Giants or New York Jets, and while he would be an immediate improvement over several DTs on the current roster, the Giants don’t have the room for him on their team.

In five seasons as a pro, Suh has never had fewer than four sacks or 25 tackles. Last season, he had 8.5 and 46 – both second-bests in his career – with the former being the league-high for DTs. However, the Giants already have several pretty good tackles of their own, including veteran Cullen Jenkins, who is signed through 2015, and youngsters Johnathan Hankins and Jay Bromley. Then there’s backup Markus Kuhn, the only man to score a defensive touchdown for the Giants in 2014.

On top the Giants’ already-deep DT position, they aren’t in the market to spend a lot this offseason. Last season, the Minnesota Vikings signed Linval Joseph away from New York on a five-year, $31.5 million contract. Suh will command a significantly larger contract than that.

Then there’s the fact that Suh is generally considered one of the dirtiest players in the league. However, despite all of the fines Suh has racked up, he’s never actually been suspended from a game. He was slated to miss this weekend’s Wild Card game, but he appealed the suspension and won. Suh has only missed two games in his entire career, actually.

So, while there are plenty of positives to come with Suh’s very questionable behavior, the Giants should still stay clear away from him. GM Jerry Reese knows he was on thin ice due to his questionable draft-day gambles in the past, and last season nearly every player he drafted had great character and was a team captain in college. And it was the best draft he’s had in years. It’s tough to imagine him bringing in a player like Suh after apparently changing his ways.

Softening the potential loss of not signing Suh is the fact that Hankins has emerged as a very good tackle. He had seven sacks with 30 tackles in 2014 — those are better numbers than several DTs who were voted to the Pro Bowl. At only 22 years old, he has plenty of time to improve, and if Bromley gets some more playing time next year, the Giants will have two very good, young DTs anchoring their line – no need to mess anything up by adding Suh.

Matt Turner is a New York Mets writer for www.RantSports.com. “Like” him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter @MturnerNY, or add him to your network on LinkedIn or Google.

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