Analyst: Only Lions, Dolphins in play for Suh

The names of a few NFL teams have cropped up as possible landing spots for soon-to-be-free agent Ndamukong Suh.

Such as the Oakland Raiders, whom sources tell nfl.com he plans to visit.

But Mike Florio of profootballtalk.com says the field is just two teams: the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Florio talked about it this morning on Miami's WQAM.

"My understanding is it's the Dolphins or the Lions," Florio said. "And the other teams are just leverage for whatever package agent Jimmy Sexton ultimately can negotiate with the Dolphins. I've heard $15 million a year is the likely ending point. They'd like to get to $17 million a year, but $15 million on a seven-year deal or a six-year deal, something like that is what's been percolating on the grapevine."

Those numbers are on par with what the Miami Herald's Armando Salguero reported the Dolphins will offer, writing: "I'm told the Dolphins are confident they're going to put a great offer on the table for Suh. They are confident they can get him. They are not certain because, obviously, this is a still a competition."

Salguero said that the Dolphins will offer "a deal in the vicinity of $102 million over six years," which would average close to $17 million per season and include about $50 million in guarantees.

That's a bunch of money for a defensive tackle. Does it make football sense?

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"I don't think it's a good football decision to overpay for Ndamukong Suh or any player, but teams will overpay for players with big names because this is an entertainment business," Florio said. "But this will be a great test. You take Ndamukong Suh off the Lions, you drop him down in the middle of that line … I think it will be a fascinating experiment. The problem is, like all experiments, there's a chance it's going to blow up.

"But I don't know that the Dolphins are worried about that. That's for the coaching staff to figure out."

Considering that he was talking to a Miami audience, Florio tended to look at it from the Dolphins' perspective, and team owner (and Michigan Man) Stephen Ross' desire to make a splash with such a signing. "You bring in a guy like that, and it changes the way people look at your team," Florio said.

"This isn't about football decisions," he added. "You're going to have some bad football decisions made under the guise of very good business decisions."

Contact Steve Schrader: sschrader@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @schradz.