Ravens Owner: Injured Suggs Will Get Full Salary
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) -- Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs will get his entire $4.9 million salary in 2012 regardless of how he tore his Achilles tendon, team owner Steve Bisciotti said Friday.
Suggs sustained the injury in April. He insists it happened while he was running through a conditioning drill, but several witnesses say he was hurt playing basketball in Arizona.
Bisciotti doesn't care.
"I would be more upset if he hurt himself sleeping on the couch all offseason," he said. "If our players are engaged in activities that get them in shape, then I'm proud of them for doing it. I don't know if I would be working out in April the way these guys do what they do. I'm proud of Terrell. It gets pretty boring in the weight room. He wasn't kite boarding. If he's playing basketball, that's great."
Suggs immediately underwent surgery and hopes to be playing again sometime this season.
Under the NFL collective bargaining agreement, the Ravens could have chosen to not pay Suggs entirely or reduce his salary because it was a non-football injury. But Bisciotti said cutting Suggs' salary would not be good for team morale.
"I'd be scared to come to work," Bisciotti said. "I think it would be a terrible message."
The Ravens also announced Friday that they had agreed to a two-year contract with former Cincinnati Bengals offensive guard Bobbie Williams.
Williams fractured his right ankle against the Houston Texans last season and ended the year on injured reserve.
Williams, 35, has started 130 career games. He is a potential replacement for Pro Bowl offensive guard Ben Grubbs, who signed a $36 million deal with the New Orleans Saints.
The newcomer will compete at left guard with rookie second-round pick Kelechi Osemele and former third-round pick Jah Reid.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
