Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs said Friday that he is nearing a long-term deal with the Ravens, a contract that surprisingly wouldn't make him the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.
The league deadline to reach a new contract with players who have received the franchise tag is July 15. If no deal can be struck, Suggs would play under the franchise tag for a second straight season, earning $10.2 million this year.
"We are close to an agreement. We just have a few little things to work out," Suggs told The Baltimore Sun. "I don't want to go into great detail, but it's things like the years of the agreement and incentives, but the basic framework has been done."
Suggs, 26, is considered one of the rising defensive stars in the NFL. Some NFL observers have contended that Suggs would test the free-agent market in March, when he would become one of the top players available.
But the Ravens' top pass rusher said Friday that he would "be very surprised if this contract isn't done soon." He also denied speculation that this contract will make him one of the highest-paid defensive players in the NFL.
"No, that's not true," he said. "But that's cool if people want to believe that. Being one of the highest-paid players has never been my motivation. I just wanted to be paid what is fair, what I think I've earned."
A Ravens spokesman had no comment.
There has been speculation that Suggs is looking for a contract similar to the one given in 2007 to the Indianapolis Colts' Dwight Freeney, whose six-year, $72 million deal ($30 million guaranteed) made him the highest-paid defender in league history at the time.
"I wish," Suggs said of getting a Freeney-type deal. "Again, I don't want to go into details but once it comes out I think everybody will be shocked, and they are going to say, 'What took so long to get this done?' "
After being tagged last year, Suggs skipped all of training camp, missing 23 days of practice. He still made his third Pro Bowl last season, leading the Ravens with eight sacks and finishing third on the team with a career-best 102 tackles.
But Suggs said he wouldn't be the last one to arrive this year when training camp starts at the end of next month.
"I'll be there when camp opens," he said. "I'd like to be there because this is where the fans get robbed if a player doesn't report on time because it hurts his team."
Suggs said he has been cleared to practice at the start of training camp. His right shoulder - which he injured in the AFC divisional playoff game at Tennessee - is fully recovered.
"It took me longer to start training this offseason because of the shoulder," he said, "but the shoulder is fine."
