NFL Notes: Ndamukong Suh, Redskins, Steelers, & Vikings

Ndamukong Suh

New Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh tells Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he wanted to remain with the Lions.

“There is no question that it’s a huge misconception that I didn’t want to be here,” Suh said. “I’ve always wanted to be here, especially growing up (as a person) here, being drafted here and having such a huge warm welcome. I think anybody would be crazy not to want to be at a place that they’re superly embraced. There’s tons of people in this community that I have gotten to know over time that to me, one, I’ve created mentors here, people from the business world that have just reached out and wanting to make sure that I’m doing the right things. So for me it was not an easy decision by any means.”

Lions president Tom Lewand mentioned that they made Suh an “extremely substantial offer” to return.

“I don’t have anything negative to say about Ndamukong Suh,” Lions president Tom Lewand said. “We made an extremely substantial offer, an offer to make him the highest-paid defensive player in the league. It stretched where we were from a planning standpoint, and in the salary-cap era you have to make tough decisions.

“We stretched in a very significant way to try and accommodate him, as well as a lot of other guys on the roster, and obviously he had another option that he thought was better. And he made his decision and both parties are going to move on positively, and as I said we wish him the best and we’re going to focus on making our team better and moving forward to reach our goals.”

Redskins

• John Keim reports that Seahawks free agent S Jeron Johnson‘s visit with the Redskins will be tomorrow.

Steelers

• Josina Anderson reports that free agent CB Patrick Robinson‘s visit with the Steelers will take place on Monday.

Vikings

Free agent DE Michael Johnson said that Vikings HC Mike Zimmer didn’t want him to get on the plane and meet with the Bengals.

Johnson mentioned that he had a “great visit” with the Vikings, who made him a good one.

“It was a great visit,” Johnson said in an interview with Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. “It was great seeing Coach Zimmer and the team he’s put together. I’m glad I got the opportunity to come up here and talk. It’s really made things way tougher than I thought.

“No lie. Before it all started, I thought, ‘OK, I’m probably going back to Cincinnati.’ There’s going to be some tears shed at the end of the day about my decision. It’s going to be hard.”