Ndamukong Suh was everyting Stephen Ross needed in 2015
By Brian Miller
When the Miami Dolphins signed Ndamukong Suh to the biggest Dolphins salary in history, it was the right move for owner Stephen Ross.
Six years, $114 million, and a lot of guaranteed money brought Ndamukong Suh to Miami and perhaps changed the perception of owner Stephen Ross. It was a signing that made sense for Ross at the time. It was the right decision. It’s the right decision today to let him go.
In 2015 Stephen Ross wasn’t revered as he is today. Some will argue that but whatever. Ross is a good owner that other NFL fans wish they had. He isn’t afraid to spend money and he stays, for the most part, out of the daily football business. But in 2015 Ross was having problems.
In 2012 Joe Philbin was not Ross’ first choice for head coach. He became the only choice after Ross was used in the Jeff Fisher debacle. He lost out on Peyton Manning who went to Denver. He couldn’t figure out the G.M. situation.
In 2015 Ross should have fired Joe Philbin but he didn’t. A regret he surely had. He fired Jeff Ireland who couldn’t get along with Dawn Aponte or Philbin. His search for a general manager was highly publicized and laughed at. He was jilted by candidate after candidate and finally settled for Dennis Hickey who was lost in his new job. He needed something to change the perception from his fans.
He found Ndamukong Suh.
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Suh was the big free agent signing that Miami needed. He was a culture shift. Suh was more than just a name and anyone saying different would be wrong. Suh played to his inflated contract. He was the backbone of a defense that lacked support but he was also a player that younger guys could learn from.
A knock on Suh from his days in Detroit was that he didn’t practice with the team in the off-season. Workout with them unless it was mandatory. In Miami he showed up. In Miami he participated. Young players like Jordan Phillips and Davon Godchaux had someone to emulate and learn the process through. While not a vocal leader, Suh was a visual leader for the defense.
It didn’t work out in terms of wins and statistics but Miami didn’t give Suh the players around him to succeed. That mistake was and is not on Ross. It’s on Mike Tannenbaum and Chris Grier. It is on Joe Philbin and partly on Adam Gase.
The signing of Suh made fans realize that Ross wanted nothing more than a winning franchise and a willingness to spend the money to do it. Suh was right at that time even if it didn’t work out. The mistake was the restructure in 2016 that crippled the cap further.
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Miami didn’t make a mistake signing Suh they made a mistake not finding the players to support him. They made the mistake of not seeing the bigger picture when Tannehill went down with a knee injury in 2016 and believing they didn’t need to address the position in the off-season. They see it now and it comes at the cost of players like Suh.
Stephen Ross made a bold move and sent a positive message and anyone who thinks that Suh’s time in Miami was or is a waste doesn’t understand the dynamics that Suh will leave the team with. Those young defensive lineman who will take his place prepare better and work harder than they may have previously. That is on Suh.
It was the right time, the right player, in the wrong system of change. As much as it was right then it is equally right now. Ross has to give Adam Gase support and he has to give Gase the ability to field a team not hindered by salary cap and inflated contracts. Suh and Landry are the one and the two but there will be three and four and maybe even five and six. Next year it will continue.
Fans should not be upset about watching these players being released they should be excited about the changes coming. Miami after all wasn’t winning anything anytime soon. Not until hard changes were going to be made. For many fans, a view of the contracts and the players came with an expiration date. Mike Pouncey, Cameron Wake, Ryan Tannehill, Reshad Jones, Andre Branch, Kiko Alonso, and yes Ndamukong Suh are players that will not be in Miami in another two seasons. Maybe not even that long.
Recognizing the problem is one thing, doing something about it is another. Looks like Miami is starting to do something about it. Maybe Tannenbaum and Grier are not the people to rebuild it but to be honest they really haven’t tried, until now. In 2015 Stephen Ross needed Ndamukong Suh and now in 2018, Ross needs to let him go.