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The Minnesota Vikings are officially players in the Ndamukong Suh sweepstakes.
USA Today’s Tyler Dragon reported that Suh, currently a free agent, has been in talks with multiple teams, including the Vikings.
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Vikings Have Had Multiple Conversations With Suh
Suh has been the center of offseason free-agent chatter throughout the spring as the five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle remains unsigned despite being one of the NFL’s most consistent interior defensive linemen at the age of 35. Suh hasn’t missed a game due to injury in his entire 12-year career and led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line in snaps last season.
Dragon tweeted on June 21 that both Vikings and Las Vegas Raiders have had multiple conversations with the veteran defensive lineman, becoming the top two candidates for signing Suh this offseason.
“There is mutual interest between the Raiders and Ndamukong Suh, per a source. Another team to keep an eye on is the Vikings. The Raiders and Vikings have both had multiple conversations with the free-agent DT,” Dragon tweeted.
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The Raiders appear to have the fast lane to signing Suh with Dragon’s source saying there is a “mutual interest” between Suh and Las Vegas. Suh also revealed on ESPN’s NFL Live on Monday, June 20, that he’s exchanged messages with Raiders defensive ends Chandler Jones and Maxx Crosby.
He also tweeted after his appearance that “Raiders could be fun.”
Vikings Need Help on Defensive Interior
Under new defensive coordinator Ed Donatell, the Vikings defense, after decades of putting four defensive linemen on the line of scrimmage, Minnesota will have to stop the run with fewer bodies.
Defensive tackles take on that burden, especially nose tackles who are tasked to occupy two blockers to keep linebackers unchallenged and flying to the point of attack.
Harrison Phillips and Dalvin Tomlinson are the only proven defensive tackles and could use additional support, like Suh.
Last season, Suh tallied 6.0 sacks and was a vital piece of the Buccaneers defense that allowed the third-fewest rushing yards in the league in 2021 and ranked first in the category in 2019 and 2020.
Suh has shown he’s plenty capable of getting after the quarterback and into the backfield too, tallying 72 pressures, 14.5 sacks and 23 tackles over the past three seasons in Tampa Bay.
And while the Raiders seem to have most of the steam in acquiring Suh, Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton deemed Suh the best fit for the Vikings, who are playing in a deflated NFC North that could offer Suh the best opportunity to make another playoff run after winning a Super Bowl with the Buccanneers in 2020.
“After trading star wideout Davante Adams to the Las Vegas Raiders, the Green Bay Packers may transition to a run-heavy attack that features Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. With Suh on the defensive front, the Vikings could counter that approach and generate consistent pocket pressure up the middle,” Moton wrote.
The only certainty at the moment is what Suh said on ESPN’s NFL Live, that “it looks like the Bucs are out of the picture.”
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