Suggs Narrates Unbelievable Story of Chiefs, Mahomes Recruiting Him

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – When Pro Football Hall of Fame selectors meet in the Bay Area next month to determine the 2026 class, they can thank Patrick Mahomes.

After all, Terrell Suggs was simply a one-time Super Bowl champion before the young quarterback called him in mid-December of 2019.

But first, a championship-hungry Chiefs head coach set the table.

“Andy Reid called me,” Suggs told Marshawn Lynch and Mike Robinson on this week’s edition of the Get Got podcast. “He didn't even call my agent. I don't even know how he got my (expletive) number to this day.”

How cool is it that Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes were instrumental in persuading Terrell Suggs to join the Kansas City Chiefs?

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The original Harbs

Going hard after Suggs, a veteran with 138 career sacks in his 17th NFL season, Reid boldly compared himself to his former coordinator John Harbaugh, Suggs’ Baltimore head coach from 2008-18.

“He said, ‘I know you love Baltimore, but you gotta understand I gave Harbs his first coaching job. Everything you love about Harbs, he got from me. You come with me, you'll win a Super Bowl.’

“And I was like, ‘Alright, Coach, let me sleep on it.’”

Suggs didn’t even hit his snooze button until a confident young quarterback, then with zero Super Bowl rings, delivered the Chiefs’ dagger.

“Yeah, I hung up the phone and Patrick Mahomes calls me,” Suggs recalled. “He was the show then, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, he was the show. And he was like, ‘Sizzle, come get the Super Bowl ring.’ I said, ‘OK, I'll be there in the morning.’”

Suggs showed up in the morning and showed up in all five games for the Chiefs, including three postseason contests. Primarily an edge rusher in 3-4 schemes throughout his decorated career, he quickly adjusted to Steve Spagnuolo’s 4-3 as a defensive end.

Fantastic final five

Those final five NFL games with the Chiefs included one sack, four quarterback hits and a batted pass. Most importantly, after Kansas City beat San Francisco in Super Bowl 54, his final chapter included another Super Bowl ring.

What’s fascinating about the Chiefs’ recruitment of Suggs isn’t simply that it came out of nowhere. Those five games in Kansas City were a bonus to the NFL, something Suggs didn’t even expect to happen.

The confidence Reid and Mahomes showed in mid-December came at a time when the Chiefs were 10-4, two games behind Suggs’ former team. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens were 12-2, on their way to securing the quarterback’s first MVP award and the AFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

And after the Arizona Cardinals were eliminated from the postseason, Suggs was on his way to retirement.

“And I was on my last leg with the Cardinals,” Suggs recalled. “I was trying to go back to Baltimore. … I called my agent. I was like, ‘They want to IR me because we ain't going to the playoffs.’ I had a bad back. And I was like, ‘It's a good possibility. I may retire, but I don't want to retire on the bench, not in the playoffs.’ That's not how I wanted to leave.”

The Chiefs’ confidence was also remarkable considering that they weren’t even guaranteed to acquire Suggs. His release from Arizona subjected him to waivers because it happened after the November trade deadline. Any team ahead of the Chiefs – or even the Ravens, for that matter – could’ve claimed him.

Unexpected road to Kansas City

“So I was like, ‘Yo, if I asked the Cardinals to release me, do you think Baltimore would pick me up? And he was like, ‘Sizz, it’s far-fetched, because they’re the No. 1 seed and there’s teams in front of them, with the waivers. You would have to make it through all those playoff teams. Everybody got first dibs on you.’”

The Patriots were 11-3 at the time, and Suggs’ agent told him Bill Belichick would claim the veteran pass-rusher simply to keep the Ravens from re-acquiring him, with the playoffs on the horizon. That cleared up Suggs’ future quickly, or so he thought.

“Alright, if I don't make it to Baltimore, then I'll just retire. I'll just ride off in the sunset. And he was like, ‘Alright, I’ll let them know. I’ll let teams know.”

That’s when Reid bypassed Suggs’ agent, somehow acquiring the player’s number (possibly from Harbaugh, just prior to throwing the Ravens head coach under the bus in his conversation with Suggs).

reid, mahome — Nov 10, 2019; Nashville, TN, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) talks with head coach Andy Reid before a game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images | Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images

And after Reid hit leadoff, Mahomes stepped to the plate and blasted a two-run homer.

After Suggs hung up with Mahomes, Kansas City didn’t lose another game. The Chiefs leap-frogged the Patriots and finished 12-4, securing the No. 2 seed in the AFC behind Baltimore.

And instead of retiring on the bench, out of the playoffs, Suggs joined Peyton Manning, John Elway, Michael Strahan and Andrew Whitworth as fantastic players who retired after winning Super Bowls.

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