The Dolphins landed the big fish in free agency.
But they hope that after doing so in the past, this one actually nets more players.
The hope is the massive contract they gave defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will help them land other players, who want to work with him.
“I think the NFL works like that because you want to be surrounded around a lot of great players,” recently signed cornerback Brice McCain told Chris Perkins of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “When the Dolphins brought in Suh, it’s going to be very inspiring to a lot of other free agents to know that they’ve got him in front of them, or can play with him.”
Likewise, tight end Jordan Cameron said he thought the deal sent a positive message to other players around the league that the Dolphins were serious.
“It’s just the fact that they’re getting guys here and they are pushing for young talent and building,” Cameron said. “[Suh] is a building block. You need guys like that to win ball games. Obviously, you can see this organization is doing a great job of bringing guys in to make that happen.”
Of course, the Dolphins have gone out and thrown money around before. They spent big to sign wide receiver Mike Wallace two offseasons ago before trading him to the Vikings for spare change. But they think Suh’s a different creature, one which will cause players to want to follow him to Miami.
Of course, they better take advantage of that quickly, before his salary cap numbers become the things that keep players from being able to.