The NFL combine has officially started with conferences and meetings, but in the midst of this week the Lions elephant in the room is Ndamukong Suh.
There is no doubt the Lions are eager to keep Mdamukong Suh and sign him long term, look no further than team President Tom Lewand as he said on WDIV a couple weeks ago “We’re confident a deal gets done in the coming weeks.”
It’s clear the Lions have many needs across the boards and obviously the Lions are looking to have a better campaign next year, and it all depends on what the Lions are thinking or doing behind closed doors.
Last week Teryl Austin said “We expect Suh back”
If that’s how the Detroit Lions think, what happens if Ndamukong Suh walks? Do they have eggs all in one basket for Suh or do they have a backup plan? Suh if tagged will count 26.8M against the cap, ESPN reported this week Detroit is still unsure whether or not to tag Suh.
The Lions have 13M in dead money for 2015 and whether or not Suh stays or goes the Lions are on the hook for 9.7M.
The salary cap has gone up from 133M to 140M and next year the cap will be at 150M and by 2017 the cap will go up to 170M, next year the Lions will have 43M dollars in cap room as of right now.
The Lions signing Suh is the best bet and the hopeful solution but if not the Lions face the tough decision to sign Suh, Franchise, or the Non-exclusive tag.
Suh Tags Explained:
Franchise Tag: The tag binds the player to the team for one year if certain conditions are met.
Non-Exclusive Tag: A “non-exclusive” franchise player must be offered a one-year contract for an amount no less than the average of the top five salaries at the player’s position for the previous year, or 120 percent of the player’s previous year’s salary, whichever is greater.
A non-exclusive franchise player may negotiate with other NFL teams, but if the player signs an offer sheet from another team, the original team has a right to match the terms of that offer, or if it does not match the offer and thus loses the player, is entitled to receive two first-round draft picks as compensation.
Transition Tag: A transition player must be offered a minimum of the average of the top 10 salaries of the prior season at the player’s position or 120 percent of the player’s prior year’s salary, whichever is greater.
A transition player designation gives the club a first-refusal right to match within seven days an offer sheet given to the player by another club after his contract expires. If the club matches, it retains the player. If it does not match, it receives no compensation.
Which Tag is more useful?
The franchise tag is the one being thrown around, but I’m leaning towards non-exclusive and here’s why the Lions could franchise Suh, but if a team offers a contract for Suh such as the Oakland Raiders or Jacksonville Jaguars you could get a top 10 pick and that doesn’t make up for the impact of Suh. It doesn’t, but if you “non-exclusive tag” Suh it’s ideal.
You can still match the offer in efforts to keep Suh, could Suh end up hitting the open market? If ESPN’s reports are indeed true and the Lions don’t know if they will tag Suh.
What could the non-exclusive hurt? I get your still tagging him, but in my opinion they’re teams that would give up two first rounders for Suh.
The dilemma with Ndamukong Suh is indeed, annoying and I’m sure Mayhew and Tom Lewand are waiting for it to be over. It’s basically taken the Lions off season and held it hostage.