The Ravens and Terrell Suggs have reached an agreement on a six-year contract that will keep the All-Pro outside linebacker in Baltimore through the 2014 season.
The team announced the deal on its web site Wednesday morning:
"Getting a deal done with Terrell is consistent with our history of retaining our best Pro Bowl players, like Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Jonathan Ogden, Todd Heap and Jamal Lewis," Ravens general manager and executive vice president Ozzie Newsome stated. "Securing Terrell for six seasons gives us a premier pass-rusher whose ability to stop the run does not get enough credit.
"When I think of what Terrell can do for us – the AFC Championship game immediately comes to mind when he sacked Big Ben [Ben Roethlisberger] two times even while playing with an injured shoulder. This will be Suggs' seventh season, and he is still a young player (Suggs will be 26 at the start of the season). Remember, he came to us as a 20-year old rookie after his junior year in college. This is a good day for the Ravens franchise."
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Suggs will receive $38 million guaranteed, and that Suggs' deal is a little better than the contract Albert Haynesworth signed with the Redskins, meaning this is the biggest contract a defensive player has ever received in NFL history. John Clayton of ESPN reports that Suggs will receive $33.1 million in bonuses in 2009 and 2010, giving him the second-most bonus money of any contract in NFL history, behind only Peyton Manning.
The long-term deal seems like a good one for both parties: It's a lot of money for Suggs, who started all 16 games last season and had eight sacks and two interceptions, and it allows the Ravens to lock in a 26-year-old who has never missed a game in his career. Suggs and the Ravens should both be happy to have this deal done.
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