In the end, the money was just too much.
The Detroit Lions will not use the franchise tag on all-pro defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the team announced Monday morning, paving the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent if a long-term deal with the team is not reached by 4 p.m. next Tuesday.
The Lions had debated using the tag on Suh in recent weeks, at the whopping cost of $26.9 million, but doing so would have made the team a nonentity in the free agent market this year and forced it to restructure the deals of a handful of players — with no guarantee of retaining Suh beyond the 2015 season.
Suh, who did not return voice and text messages from the Free Press on Monday, and the Lions still can reach agreement on a long-term deal, but the three-day free agent negotiating period begins Saturday, and Suh is eligible to sign with any team next week.
In five NFL seasons, Suh, the second pick of the 2010 NFL draft, has 36 career sacks, three first-team all-pro selections and has helped the Lions to two playoff appearances.
He’s coming off the best season of his career, when he had 8.5 sacks and starred on the Lions’ No. 1-ranked rushing defense. And at 28, he will be the most coveted free agent on the market.
The Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans are among the teams that could try to lure Suh from Detroit. All have more than $30 million in 2015 salary cap room, or almost double what the Lions have in available space (less than $18 million).
Most NFL observers expected the Lions to pass on using the franchise tag because of the immense cap and cash hit associated with the tender. The tag is fully guaranteed once signed, and is for far more than market value because of the Lions’ own cap mismanagement.
J.J. Watt, the best defensive player in the NFL, averages $16.7 million per season on the contract extension he signed with the Houston Texans last September, and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers averages $22 million per year as the league’s highest-paid player.
“That just eats up too much cap,” ESPN analyst and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Mark Dominik said last week. “At $26.9 (million), I don’t think it’s logical. … Let me say it this way: If you’re going to spend that much money, you should be able to get a deal done. If that means more guarantee or bigger signing bonus, then that’s what it is.”
The Lions have said for more than a year now that they expected a deal to get done, and team president Tom Lewand even went so far as to mention in a letter to season-ticket holders raising prices last month the team’s “commitment to keeping our best players.”
Suh, who told people in the Lions’ organization last year that he wanted to be the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, has an inordinate amount of leverage in these negotiations because he’s the best player at his position, in the prime of his career, a relative picture of health (he never has missed a game for injury reasons) and because he played last season with a cap number of $22.4 million.
While the franchise tag is typically the average of the top five previous-year salaries at a player’s position, Suh’s high cap charge, which was brought on, in part, by the Lions’ decision to twice restructure his deal, requires that he receive a 20 percent raise over that number on any tag (franchise or transition).
Had the Lions not done those restructurings, where most of his salary was converted to a signing bonus for cap purposes, the tag would have about $7.5 million cheaper and a no-brainer.
Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said at the NFL combine last month that he would consider several factors before deciding whether to franchise Suh.
“Obviously, you make that kind of financial commitment, it kind of determines what else you can do during the off-season, so that’s going to be part of the equation,” Mayhew said. “The value of having him versus if we don’t get something done long-term, losing him, what we’re able to get accomplished in the off-season.”
The Lions have 18 unrestricted free agents in addition to Suh, including fellow defensive tackles Nick Fairley, C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen.
Along with Suh, the Lions hope to sign at least one starting-caliber defensive tackle in free agency and need help at cornerback and on the offensive line, though their offensive line need is more likely to be filled in the draft.
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