The Baltimore Ravens will lose receiver Steve Smith Sr. to retirement this offseason, but the team isn’t expecting veteran outside linebacker Terrell Suggs to follow him into life after the NFL.
According to general manager Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens are planning on Suggs, who turns 35 next October, to come back for the 2017 season.
From Jamison Hensley of ESPN:
Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome: "We expect (Terrell Suggs) to be back."
— Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) January 10, 2017
Suggs had eight sacks and three forced fumbles for the Ravens in 2016, but he’ll need surgery to repair a biceps injury he suffered in October.
A 14-year NFL veteran, Suggs missed all but one game in 2015 after tearing his Achilles’ tendon in the season opener. He recovered in time to play in 15 of 16 games this season.
Suggs will add at least one more year to a legendary career in Baltimore. A first-round pick of the Ravens in 2003, Suggs has produced 114.5 sacks and 30 forced fumbles, while earning six trips to the Pro Bowl and an NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in 2011. He was also part of a Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII in February of 2013.
Suggs is currently 21st in NFL history in sacks, but he could jump as high as 17th with at least 10 sacks next season. Among active players, Suggs trails only Julius Peppers, DeMarcus Ware and Dwight Freeney in sacks.
Even with Suggs likely to return in 2017, expect the Ravens—a team that finished with only 31 sacks this past season—to pursue a pass-rusher in free agency or the NFL draft.
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