Report: Dolphins planning to move on from Ndamukong Suh after 2017

It doesn’t seem all that long ago when the Detroit Lions lost a bidding war with the Miami Dolphins for star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Detroit reportedly offered their Pro Bowl defender upwards of $102 million over six years—or $17 million a year. But the Dolphins upped the ante significantly by handing Suh a six-year, $114 million contract, a hair over $19 million a year.

But it appears the Dolphins are ready to admit they made a mistake.

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, the Dolphins are planning to move on from Suh just three years into his new contract. “Suh, whose signing pre-dates the arrival of head coach Adam Gase, has been seen as aloof by many teammates and the concept of building a defense around him in free agency was always ripe with potential pitfalls,” La Canfora wrote on Sunday.

According to Over the Cap, the Dolphins would incur a whopping $22 million dead cap hit if they parted ways with Suh after the 2017 season.

Signing Suh has not paid the dividends that Miami was likely expecting back in 2015. Suh has 13.5 sacks through 39 games with the Dolphins, but their defense hasn’t exactly been as smothering as one would expect, considering their personnel. This year, they rank just 14th in points per game allowed and are only the 22nd best defense according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA.

Things may have come to a head this week, as Suh was involved in yet another unsportsmanlike controversy. On Thursday night during Miami’s disaster against the Ravens, Suh grabbed the throat of Ravens quarterback Ryan Mallett.

“He came at me and tried to attack me, and I’m protecting myself,” Suh told reporters after the game.

With the headache Suh presents both in managing the salary cap and with his on-field antics, it appears the Dolphins are admitting the grave mistake they made two years ago. Now the question is, where does Suh go from here?

We’ll likely have to wait until the end of the season to see, if these reports are true. But for the time being, it appears the Lions may have dodged a bullet back in 2015.