Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, a swaggering staple of the team's defense for 16 years, is expected to sign a free-agent deal with the Arizona Cardinals, according to media reports.
Deals cannot be finalized until Wednesday. Teams were allowed to contact free agents beginning Monday.
Suggs leads the Ravens in career sacks (132 {) and games played (229). He has started at least one game in every season since the Ravens took him No. 10 overall in the 2003 NFL draft.
Suggs is a Chandler, Ariz., native and starred at Arizona State. He also has a home in Scottsdale. But he said after the Ravens' playoff loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that he "would love to be a Raven for life. I'm healthy. I feel like I've still got some juice in the tank." He said after the 2017 season that he still planned to play for "years to come."
Suggs' departure would leave the Ravens thin at outside linebacker. Za'Darius Smith is expected to command a deal worth close to, if not more than, $10 million annually, likely out of the Ravens' reach. Matthew Judon is entering the final year of his contract, and backups Tim Williams and Tyus Bowser have struggled to make an impact as pass rushers recently.
