Getty The Rams defense on November 11, 2018.
In an all too familiar move, including one involving the Los Angeles Rams back in 2018, Ndamukong Suh is latching on with a team with aspirations of making a Super Bowl run.
But this time, the former Ram and longtime NFL trench defender is joining one of the teams sitting at 8-1 overall.
Reported by Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network on Thursday, November 17, Suh is signing with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“The rich get richer. The Eagles are signing free agent DT Ndamukong Suh to a 1-year, sources say, beefing up their defensive front with a top free agent. They want to keep the DL a strength. The deal has been agreed to and is done,” Rapoport tweeted.
Suh Earned New Accolade While With the Rams
When Suh arrived to the “Rams House” in 2018, he was already nearly a decade into his NFL career with no Super Bowl appearances.
But that all changed in his first and eventually, only season as a Ram.
Suh started in all 16 regular season games under head coach Sean McVay while forming the “Human Traffic Jam” with fellow interior defensive lineman Aaron Donald on the defensive line. Suh not only delivered 4.5 sacks opposite of the league’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year, but his 59 tackles were more than what he compiled in his final season with the Miami Dolphins in 2017. He also witnessed an increase in quarterback hits from his previous two seasons before his Rams arrival.
And the new, long-awaited accolade Suh accomplished with the Rams? After being on the losing end of two playoff games with the Dolphins and in 2014 while teammates with Matthew Stafford, the Detroit Lions, Suh earned his first trip to the Super Bowl.
Suh eventually made his way over to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he earned his first and only Super Bowl ring in the 2020 season. He produced 6 sacks in his final campaign as a Buc in 2021.
Suh Was Linked to Having a Potential Reunion in L.A.
Turns out, Suh and the Rams became a popular linking — this time for a Rams team in need of an extra trench presence.
On June 29, Pro Football Focus wrote how Suh and the Rams should have a reunion by writing how “heading back to the Rams would give him a chance for another Super Bowl ring.”
Then nearly a month later, plus following the six-game suspension of second-year nose tackle Bobby Brown for violation of the league’s substance abuse policy in July, Suh’s name resurfaced as a strong possibility to offset the loss of the former Texas A&M defender.
Suh’s name, though, was mentioned as a suitor for the Las Vegas Raiders around the time the Rams rumblings surfaced. Now, he’s returning to the league with eight games left in the regular season and joining a team that’s made some aggressive moves in the effort to win their second Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Eagles also signed former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Linval Joseph on Wednesday. NFL reporter Dov Kleiman believes the additions of both Joseph and Suh come in the wake of a rough night for the Eagles’ run defense in their Monday Night Football loss to the Washington Commanders.
“The Eagles have a really bad game stopping the run, they sign Linval Joseph and Ndamukong Suh. The Chargers haven’t stopped the run all season, receive a ton of injuries, and instead release a DT and not sign any big names. Other teams too. Eagles are going for it,” Kleiman tweeted.
There were Rams fans, though, who had hoped to see Suh return.
@RamsNFL have to find a way to sign @NdamukongSuh after losing out in trade deadline…
I just noticed Ndamukong Suh is still available. I feel like the Rams sure could use him these days for half a season. Still go get Bradley Chubb & Kareem Hunt. If Laremy Tunsil is available do whatever it takes to get him
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Former Rams Super Bowl Defender Joining Aspiring Contender: Report