SmashMouth

With Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh opting to withhold services as part of an effort to get a new contract in lieu of showing up and preparing for a contract-year push that could get him paid plenty come 2015, the Lions are getting a taste of life without Suh.

With a cap number of $22.412 million in 2014, the last year of his contract, perhaps the smart move could be to start living without Suh permanently.

The Lions have made no secret about their interest in players who won’t be on the board at the top of the draft. So maybe Suh could be used to help the Lions move up from No. 10 to something higher.

It’s easy to say. As usual, it would be harder to do.

First, the Lions would have to find a team that wants Suh, who is due to be paid $12.55 million in 2014. And that team would have to be willing to extend Suh’s contract, or his stay would be a short one.

Second, the Lions would still absorb a large cap charge for trading Suh before June 1. While the $12.55 million in base salary would be avoided, $9.737 million in dead money due to apply to Detroit’s cap in 2015 under Suh’s name would be pushed into 2014. That creates a total cap charge of $19.5995 million.

The good news? That’s lower than the number the Lions would carry if Suh doesn’t sign a new contract. And a trade would clear $9.7375 million in 2015 dead money off the books by pushing it into 2014.

read more

SloMotion

They're damned if they do, damned if they don't on this deal so I'm hoping they just let it play out, hope the guy lives up to his contract/hype and don't waste any more future resources dealing with him, ie trading up in the draft, et...

I've been hearing how the old CBA is responsible for N-drama-kong's contract & the Lions cap problems, but I'm not buying it ... they've just made bad decisions & now they're just gonna' have to live with 'em, IMO ... don't throw any more good money after bad ... it speaks volumes, IMO, that teams aren't chomping-at-the-bit to sign such a supposed outstanding defensive player/game-changer/playmaker at his current market price.

If he was a linebacker, he'd be Brian Bosworth ... an offensive tackle, he'd be Tony Mandarich ... well, maybe not a Mandarich, but Suh has been a bit of a disappointment, .

ScottF

It will take a real mastermind to come up with an equitable way to move/acquire Suh.
A $10 million hit this year would be difficult for the Lions, but some teams have that amount and more sitting on IR each year, so who knows?
The real problem is probably not the contract, but the reputation

lee909

Raiders maybe

SloMotion

These are reportedly the teams with higher draft selections than the Lions who would have the cap space to sign him: Texans, Jaguars, Browns, Buccaneers, and Bills.

Of those teams, I'd give the edge to the Bills who'd probably like to line him up next to Mario Williams and have recently hired Gym Shorts as their defensive coordinator ... but who knows, N-drama-kong is such a temperamental little biotch/prima-donna, he may not want to play for Schwartz.

A trade makes sense for the Lions in that you remove a disgruntled team captain who really doesn't lead and doesn't want to be there. In every other aspect, it's a losing situation both financially and in the fact that when Suh gets what he wants (other than the big bucks) and is gone, hopefully to a contender, he'll finally start "playing his balls off" ... if I may borrow a quote from the Saints, .