As the race for Ndamukong Suh gets underway, it appears the Dolphins may have the holeshot. League insiders continue to suggest Miami is the team to beat for Suh – especially considering the impact of Florida state income tax, or lack thereof. According to the Miami Herald, any Raiders offer will have to beat a Florida time by $8-10 million to adjust for 13.3% California income tax.
Contrary to the opinion of some, $8 million would surely be a deal-breaker – even for a player guaranteed $70 million. It isn’t in Reggie McKenzie’s nature to overpay and he surely can’t be chomping at the bit to spend $100+ million on any one player.
A more likely scenario for the Raiders was reported yesterday by Adam Schefter. According to Schefter, the Raiders are more likely to spend on Randall Cobb and Julius Thomas – at the risk of losing Suh. In doing so the Raiders would be investing in their most valuable commodity, Derek Carr.
Expect the Raiders to treat Cobb as the crown jewel of this year’s free agent class. If Thomas follows, even better. The three-day window to negotiate with free agents (from other teams) begins tomorrow. As always, there’ll be smoke and mirrors, but the team that wants Suh the most will probably get him. The same is true of Cobb… and I think that team will be Oakland.
