SUGGS CLAIMS HE WAS AT 35-40 PERCENT, SUGGESTS TAKING A “HOME DISCOUNT”

To the extent that Ravens linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs was engaged in a drama queen routine regarding the condition of his shoulder in the days preceding the AFC title game, the curtain still has not fallen. On Friday, Suggs told Zig Fracassi and Jim Miller of Sirius NFL Radio that the Ravens star was only “35-40 percent” against the Steelers. “I would say 35-40 percent healthy but you don’t miss an opportunity to play in the Super Bowl so I lined up anyway and did what I can with the one arm,” Suggs said in response to a question regarding the condition of his shoulder. Though Suggs said he won’t need surgery, such talk could affect his value on the open market, if the Ravens opt against using the franchise tag on him for a second time. And maybe they won’t, given a suggestion from Suggs that he and linebackers Bart Scott and Ray Lewis might give the team a “home discount.” “We really don’t want to play without one another because we’ve been playing together for so long,” Suggs said. “To line up and see somebody [different] behind me in my case, or lining up seeing somebody different in Bart’s case, line up with somebody next to you and it’s not one of the greatest defensive players of all time, it’s going to be kind of weird. Like I told Bart, he’s been like a big brother since I got there. This was his seventh year [and] my sixth. It’s been me, him and Adalius Thomas from Day One. We’ve already seen one of our other brothers walk. We really don’t want to see too many more of us walk away from the city of Baltimore. Hopefully we all can stay, definitely, on a home discount.” Whether Scott and Lewis and (most importantly) any of their agents agree is a different story. Suggs played in 2008 under a one-year franchise tender in the amount of $8.5 million, specifically negotiated to suggest his hybrid role. If the Ravens opts to use it again, they’ll have to offer Suggs a one-year deal worth 120 percent of his 2008 pay, which equates to $10.2 million.