Ndamukong Suh is out there, perhaps waiting for the right team to come calling. It probably won't be the Lions.
After losing Alim McNeill to injured reserve this week, Detroit had a clear need at defensive tackle -- on a defense that needed more playmakers to as it was. The club opted to sign veteran Tyson Alualu, a former first-round pick who spent the last six seasons with the Steelers.
Asked if the Lions have considered a reunion with Suh, a three-time All-Pro in Detroit who played for Campbell on the Dolphins, Campbell said, "Listen, Brad (Holmes) has looked at all of it."
"I mean, we haven’t overlooked anybody. Brad, we got it all up there. We’ve looked at everybody, so at this moment, we’ve made the decision we felt like was best for us," Campbell said.
In other words, the 36-year-old Alualu was more appealing than the 36-year-old Suh. Alualu, for his part, said Wednesday that he wasn't going to put his body through a 13th NFL season for just any team, but that the Lions were attractive as a chance "to jump on a moving train." Detroit is 9-3 and gunning for its first division title in 30 years with a three-game lead in the NFC North.
Suh joined the Eagles midway through last season after they had established themselves as contenders and logged 10 tackles, two quarterback hits and one sack in eight games while playing 35 percent of the defensive snaps. He added two tackles and three quarterback hits in three playoff games as the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl.
Alualu had 13 tackles, two quarterback hits and a half-sack in 17 games for the Steelers last season, while playing about a quarter of the defensive snaps. He said he hopes to give the Lions more push on the interior and could debut as early as next week against the Broncos.
The Lions are starting Alualu on the practice squad, as they did with veteran pass rusher Bruce Irvin when he joined the team last month. Campbell said Alualu looked good in a workout on Tuesday.
"So it’s, ‘OK, here we go, let’s get him in football shape like Bruce.’ Honestly, it’s a guy who brings the floor. He brings stability. You kind of know exactly what you’re going to get, and that gives us comfort. He’s got a little versatility to him, and there again, he’s an addition to the roster. So once we get him to where we feel like, alright, he’s in game shape, then we’ll make a decision (on adding him to the active roster). Let’s see if he can help us.”
Irvin gave the Lions a boost in his debut, logging a sack and a quarterback hit that knocked Derek Carr out of the game in last week's win over the Saints. He played just 11 defensive snaps and is in line for work moving forward.
"We would like to work him in more," Campbell said. "That was the plan last week, give him some opportunities and then see where he’s at there, see how he handled it, see how his body is and then potentially get him some more, so we’re looking into that. Yeah, I would say he’s earned that.”