The Cardinals released DE Terrell Suggs and John Lynch shouldn’t hesitate to claim him

Late Friday morning, the Arizona Cardinals announced they released veteran defensive end, Terrell Suggs. The Cardinals aren’t going to make the playoffs, and this gives Suggs a chance to play for a playoff team. On the season, Suggs has 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. Suggs also has 23 hurries, which is the same amount as DeForest Buckner, and 23 run stops, which is one fewer than Nick Bosa.

You know where I’m going with this.

San Francisco is banged up everywhere, but most notably the defensive line. Suggs would give the team a veteran presence with playoff experience, and, more importantly, a competent body that can stop the run and get after the quarterback. You’re essentially signing Suggs for three games and a playoff run. Do it.

Money isn’t the issue. Whichever team claims Suggs would only have to pay his salary for the final two games of the regular season, which is $353,000. The problem is Suggs may not make it to the 49ers. The Waiver order resets on Tuesdays to the inverse order of league standings. Since Suggs goes on waivers until Monday, that means San Francisco is 31st in the waiver priority. There are plenty of other teams that are pass-rush needy, one in the Niners division, that are higher in the waiver priority and will likely put in a claim for Suggs.

I’d be interested to see how Suggs feels about this. Obviously, you have to play for whoever claims you. But do you? He may pull the veteran card and only want to play for legitimate contenders. If you’re a player that has accomplished as much as Suggs, why wouldn’t you? If I’m another NFL team, I’m putting in a claim to avoid someone else from getting Suggs. Petty? Yes. But that’s how this game works.

I reached out to my buddy Blake Murphy from Revenge of the Birds to give us an idea of how Suggs has played this season:

Several splash plays to start the year but has faded quickly and lost snaps out to Cassius Marsh. It doesn’t seem to have the same hustle, and you and I have the same number of tackles as him the last month. No longer a full-time player.

I wonder how much of that has to do with Arizona’s record. The good news is, especially a month from now, you don’t need Suggs to play 50-60 snaps.