Terrell Suggs' homecoming season didn't quite make it a full 16 games.
The Arizona Cardinals released the 37-year-old linebacker, coach Kliff Kingsbury announced Friday.
Suggs' stay with the Cardinals ends after 13 games, in which the edge rusher recorded 37 tackles, 5.5 sacks and four forced fumbles. The former Arizona State Sun Devil started all 13 games opposite pass-rushing force Chandler Jones, but with the 3-9-1 Cardinals left only to evaluate talent that could be around beyond 2019, it was time for the two to part ways.
"It was mutual conversations as this thing went on," Kingsbury said of his talks with Suggs. "Like I said, the respect was both ways. We know what he's meant to this league, the Hall of Fame player he's been, so we just wanted to have those conversations."
Suggs has been the model of longevity in his 17-season career. Selected 10th overall in the same draft that saw another Suggs go in the fourth round (Virginia Tech running back Lee Suggs, who lasted four seasons), Suggs is one of only two active players remaining from the class. The other, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, retired for one season before returning to play in 2019.
His career resume -- seven-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro, 2011 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and 138 sacks tallied -- almost guarantees he'll one day cross the stage in Canton.
Those eager to see a reunion between Suggs and his high-flying former team, the Baltimore Ravens, should put their excitement on hold. He'll first have to clear 30 other teams' waiver claims before possibly landing with the 12-2 Ravens, who boast an unheralded but young and effective linebacking corps. Suggs' potential return as an edge-rushing specialist is in play, but only if the rest of the league decides it doesn't want to add the future Hall of Famer.
