Detroit Lions NFL 2015 News: Will Ndamukong Suh Stay on at the Lions?

By Joshua Lobdell, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Detroit Lions biggest issue this off season is what to do with fiery defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Suh originally signed a six-year rookie deal, under the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, and part of that deal allowed the sixth year to be voided.

That means Suh is set to become a free agent in March and the Lions due to restructuring his deal twice, are in a pretty bad position to get him resigned at a price that will not handcuff the team under the NFL's salary cap.

Due to those two restructurings, no matter what the outcome of this winds up being Suh will count nearly 10 million dollars against the Lions' 2015 cap. Those 10 million dollars makes the thought of applying the franchise tag to Suh virtually undoable. Under NFL rules Suh would make 120 percent of his 2014 salary if the Lions franchise tagged him. When the nearly 10 million dollars of dead money gets added to that the salary cap hit for 2015 if the Lions used this tag would be 36.6 million dollars or nearly a quarter of the projected 2015 salary cap.

The Lions cannot afford to tie up that much money in any one player, not even their franchise QB. Lions General Manager Martin Mayhew has indicated that resigning Suh is the team highest priority.

"I think it's important for you guys to know that we want him back and we are willing to franchise him, transition him, whatever," Mayhew told the Detroit Free Press.

The Transition Tag may just be a better option for the Lions here. Under NFL rules the transition tag could be applied and Suh could field offers from other teams with the Lions retaining the rights to match said offers. That would allow Suh to test the market and give the Lions more of an idea of how much of their Salary Cap they want to invest in him.

This situation is further complicated by the fact that the team declined the fifth year option of fellow DT Nick Fairley's rookie deal. The Lions do have the option to let Suh walk and work out a new deal with Fairley who their Defensive Coordinator is high on. In that scenario it seems likely the Lions would then draft another DT in the 2015 draft to find Suh's potential replacement.