Ndamukong Suh finally added Super Bowl champion to his list of career accolades.
Following the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Super Bowl victory, the 34-year-old defensive lineman isn't ready to retire. Instead, he'd like to return to the Bucs.
"My goal is to come back and have an opportunity to go win another championship," Suh told Albert Breer of the MMQB recently. "Me and Tom [Brady] spoke the other day about that opportunity, as well as with Jason Licht. I don't know if you saw our parade celebration on that podium, Coach B.A. [Bruce Arians] said I'm not going anywhere. And he's usually a man of his word. So I look forward to the opportunity to continue to play, especially for Tampa. And I honestly believe I have a lot of elite, great talent left in me to play. I'm not ready to hang them up yet. And my wife has given me the O.K.-that's first and foremost, I got that permission."
If Suh intends to keep playing for a 12th season, it could get tricky staying in Tampa unless he's willing to take a significant pay cut -- something we've not seen during his career. The Bucs have a good chunk of cap space compared to the rest of the league, but others are bigger priorities than the veteran D-lineman. Pass rusher Shaquil Barrett, linebacker Lavonte David, receiver Chris Godwin and tight end Rob Gronkowski are among Tampa's free agents looking to get paid.
Suh made his presence felt in the postseason, including 1.5 sacks of Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LV.
The veteran, named Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2010, has made three first-team All-Pro squads and five Pro Bowls throughout his career, but isn't ready to walk away after earning his first Lombardi.
"Along with being able to still have that energy, that fire to go out there, I think the biggest thing that pushed me throughout this season was knowing I have twins on the way," Suh told Breer. "Being able to have them come into this world as champions, but then also me play a couple years, maybe five, who knows? That they get to see me on the football field and experience that at a certain age, obviously they're going to be super young, going back this year. But just for them to be able to experience and be around that environment [would be great]."
Whether the Bucs can make the financials work to keep Suh and others in place in 2021 remains to be seen. Suh's desire to remain in Tampa with Brady isn't a gut-reaction to a Super Bowl title. The defensive lineman believes playing with the G.O.A.T. is a recipe for a prolonged career and better yearly production.
"If you watch and go back and look at all his teams, and this is one of the things I was excited about when he signed with us, those defenses are typically well-rested," Suh says. "Dinking and dunking, making big plays, moving the ball downfield and scoring points, it gives you opportunities to one, rest, but also come out fresh and rush the passer. And get sacks and not really have to play the run. Because a lot of the time, teams are either playing from behind or it's neck-and-neck and they have to find ways to score. And most teams in this league want to pass it. So I was excited about him coming. And obviously his competitive edge and the knowledge that he has and brings to the team. I got to learn a lot of stuff from him during camp, which was great. And we got to get to know each other on a whole different level versus me always trying to chase him down."
Suh hopes practices are the only times he's chasing Brady in 2021.
