Who's in on Ndamukong Suh?

[Fleet]

I think we could be at the point where Telesco will look at Free agents after the draft. Many teams will cut post june 1 guys when they draft players. More players will hit free agency.

For example...maybe a WR drops and its a guy Telesco has high on his board....wasnt expecting him...drafts him and then cuts Benjamin. This happens all the time to teams. They go into the draft holding onto fringe big contract starters...but draft guys that make those players less needed. So they free up cap space by cutting them. Im not saying we need a WR...just that it happens like this often.

I expect another wave of free agents to hit the market after the draft.

[beachcomber]

About $14 million is what he got on his one year Ram contract - i don't see him getting close to that anywhere.

What is the right price? Probably something south of $10 million for Telesco, if interested.

Lots of DTs in free agency & the draft. I don't see the Chargers signing him.

had thrown out $8m/yr awhile ago....

[Steve]

We effectively have $2-4 million in cap space available. I'm not sure Suh is willing to play for that little.

Hi drop in production was playing his playing in the 34. I don't think he was all that thrilled playing in the 34, and being schemed into the double teams to free up Donald. He was reasonably productive, but he would probably like to get back to being a 3 tech himself, which is what he has been his entire career.

Fleet's right, there will be another wave in a couple of weeks following the draft and each team's first minicamp.

If we want to have a chance at Suh, the best thing is to not seem to be in any hurry, which I don't think we are. Suh is not some snot-nosed kid who needs a million minicamp reps to get ready for the season. He has never had a problem getting/staying in shape. So let him test the market and then let him know he can be in a D that will let him blow up running plays and push the pocket all day long.

There is no DL in football who is dying to take on blocks all day long if faced with the chance to rush the QB and just penetrate and cause havoc. And he has to be a little disappointed that he missed getting a ring with the Rams.

[La Costa Boy]

Benjamin is sitting on an 8 million 2019 contract I believe. The question I ask myself is would I want Travis on my sideline come September or Suh? It really becomes a non question at that point to me. Suh changes the whole narrative for the Chargers in 2019. Benjamin does not. BUT.....can you get Suh for 8 or 9 million???

[chargerkdb]

Benjamin is sitting on an 8 million 2019 contract I believe. The question I ask myself is would I want Travis on my sideline come September or Suh? It really becomes a non question at that point to me. Suh changes the whole narrative for the Chargers in 2019. Benjamin does not. BUT.....can you get Suh for 8 or 9 million???

Doubt it. I thought Benjamin more in 5-6 mil cap

[Steve]

Benjamin is sitting on an 8 million 2019 contract I believe. The question I ask myself is would I want Travis on my sideline come September or Suh? It really becomes a non question at that point to me. Suh changes the whole narrative for the Chargers in 2019. Benjamin does not. BUT.....can you get Suh for 8 or 9 million???

https://overthecap.com/player/travis-benjamin/309/

Nope. Benjamin's cap # is $6.5 million, and we would get $5.25 million if we released him. We can't get the bonus money back no matter what.

Also, I think Suh had it in his mind that he was playing at a discount last year to make a push for a championship with the Rams. Not sure he is willing to play for even less.

Whether or not anyone is willing to pay him in the $14 mill + range anymore is another story. But it wouldn't be the first time an aging vet overvalues himself. The fact he is still on the market suggests he won't get north of $10 mill. He might, but if a team were willing to throw that much at him, I think they probably would have.

While we about $12 mill in cap space right now, we have effectively are down to $2-4 mill in cap space that is not spoken for. If we cut Benjamin, then we could have $7-9 million, stretching it, maybe $10 mill.

As far as Suh and changing the narrative, there is some truth to it, but the chance of 1 player changing the narrative is pretty slim anyway. While Suh can occasionally still dominate, he has really not been a dominant player over most of his career. He still flashes it, but he is not the elite DT anymore.

Benjamin is getting 3rd WR money. He is the 11th starter on an offense that plays 3 wr (11 personnel) 71% of the time (based on last years numbers). The NFL as a whole is a bit less, but the point is, he is a pretty regular player. I can see not releasing him until we see someone show more. There are several candidates to replace him, but it is always nice to see those guys step up before you cut a starter. It is not like it hasn't happened that a team cuts a guy like Benjamin and then it leaves a hole in the offense.

Now, if someone appears on the market after the June 1st purges, then it is a different story. I have no problem taking a risk at 3rd WR, if we are upgrading elsewhere. But we don't seem interested in Suh, and there is no one else out there who is a big upgrade we couldn't sign with the cap space we already have.

[beachcomber]

we reportedly made a move for Suh awhile back, albeit consider it less likely @the moment given that we resigned Brandon.

looks to me like we will take the best DT avail in the draft, and won't rule out Dex as we apparently had Vita Vea in our round one cluster.

more likely we opt for a penetrating/disruptive 3T, as Telesco is of the opinion that JJ can rotate in @NT.

Tillery, Dre'Mont and perhaps Rashan Gary (no comparison to the aforementioned two production wise) may be there for our choosing @28, as guessing that Oliver, Simmons or Wilkins is unlikely @the back of the first ??

based on who we pick up in the draft, and given we don't sign a vet cast off or double dip in Nashville, guessing team Tommy John signs @least one of Square, Philon and/or Liuget.

and was surprised by the release of Jahleel, as guessing the FO prerogative is to retain TB as opposed to cutting him loose, not to mention that both MW and Keenan are injury concerns.

ps. guessing plan B might comprise of the likes of Khalen Saunders, Greg Gaines or Trysten Hill ??

[Topcat]

Benjamin is sitting on an 8 million 2019 contract I believe. The question I ask myself is would I want Travis on my sideline come September or Suh? It really becomes a non question at that point to me. Suh changes the whole narrative for the Chargers in 2019. Benjamin does not. BUT.....can you get Suh for 8 or 9 million???

Or, put it this way: If we can get Suh for $8-9 mil, that would be LESS than the $11 mil a year the Raiders are paying Twill the next 4 years...I know, different positions, but I think Suh on our team would make a bigger difference than keeping Twill would have...and Benji...just not all that much of an impact considering we paid him $5.7 mil last year, and he only gained 186 yards all year...heck, KA gets close to that in just one GAME...

[Boltjolt]

We cant afford Suh, not happening

[Boltgang74]

And we can't afford to keep payin Benji when we have more pressing needs on defense.Cut TB and sign Gunter or some smaller name guy.

[Heatmiser]

Chargers have about what they will need to sign their draft picks with a little left over. The little is not enough to sign any of the names being thrown around. It was not even enough to sign PHilon.

TG

[SDBORN]

The Tyrod signing is looking sillier by the minute IMO. A serious waste of cap space, assuming we are "all in it to win it". Perhaps we aren't in TT's mind.