Suggs Agrees To Six-year, $63M Deal

"Terrell Suggs will sign a six-year, $63 million contract with the Ravens on Wednesday, completing one of the more lucrative deals in NFL history.

A three-time Pro Bowl linebacker, Suggs will receive $33 million in bonuses (a $10.1 million signing bonus and a $23 million option bonus due in March), which ranks second only to Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who earned $34 million in bonuses. Suggs' total is believed to be the most ever for a defensive player.

Suggs, who repeatedly said the sides were close on a deal, will sign the contract before Wednesday at 4 p.m., the deadline for NFL teams to sign their franchise tag players to a long-term deal.

"The Ravens showed up big for me, now I have to show up big for them again," Suggs told The Baltimore Sun.

Suggs added, "I'm only 26 years of age, and my best years are ahead of me. I can only get smarter as my years of experience pile up. I wasn't sure this deal was going to get done even though I kept saying it was close. I thought the chances were about 50-50, and I definitely didn't want to get franchised again."

The sides made significant progress 2 1/2 weeks ago, when the Ravens increased the guaranteed money, a league source said. An agreement was reached around midnight Wednesday in a three-way call with Suggs, his agent and general manager Ozzie Newsome.

The Ravens will pay their top pass rusher $38 million in guaranteed money and $40 million over the first two years of the deal.

"This is a good day for the Ravens franchise," general manager Ozzie Newsome said."

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Suggs says he's close to signing a new deal

"Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs said Friday that he is nearing a long-term deal with the Ravens, a contract that surprisingly wouldn't make him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.

The league deadline to reach a new contract with players who have received the franchise tag is July 15. If no deal can be struck, Suggs would play under the franchise tag for a second straight season, earning $10.2 million this year.

"We are close to an agreement. We just have a few little things to work out," Suggs told The Baltimore Sun. "I don't want to go into great detail, but it's things like the years of the agreement and incentives, but the basic framework has been done."

Suggs, 26, is considered one of the rising defensive stars in the NFL. Some NFL observers have contended that Suggs would test the free-agent market in March, when he would become one of the top players available.

But the Ravens' top pass rusher said Friday that he would "be very surprised if this contract isn't done soon." He also denied speculation that this contract will make him one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL.

"No, that's not true," he said. "But that's cool if people want to believe that. Being one of the highest-paid players has never been my motivation. I just wanted to be paid what is fair, what I think I've earned."

A Ravens spokesman had no comment.

There has been speculation that Suggs is looking for a contract similar to the one given in 2007 to the Indianapolis Colts' Dwight Freeney, whose six-year, $72 million deal ($30 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid defender in league history at the time."

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