Lions GM Martin Mayhew told reporters Friday morning that he expects to get a long-term extension worked out with DT Ndamukong Suh at some point in the near future.
“I haven’t really given that any thought,” Mayhew said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I anticipate we’ll get something done. He has said that he wants to be here. We’d like him to be here, so that’s sort of my mind-set now.”
Suh is still without an agent, which makes it hard for the Lions to sit down and hash out what is expected to be a huge contract extension. According to Mayhew, they were hoping to be able to speak with him at the Scouting Combine, but it appears as though they’ll have to wait at least a little while until his negotiating team is in place.
“Spoke to him about a week ago, and I said, ‘Hey, we’re going to be at the combine next week. I don’t want to rush you on the agent thing, but if you have one by then, that would be nice. But there’s no (rush). It’s up to you to pick the right guy,’” Mayhew said. “So we had that conversation. And then I reached out to him on my way here, and we missed each other for a couple days. We finally talked yesterday. He said he’s getting close to picking an agent; he hasn’t picked one yet. I declined to start the negotiation with him right then, so we’re going to wait for him to get an agent and then we’ll get rolling.”
Mayhew added that he hasn’t considered trading Suh at all.
Suh, 27, is in the prime of his career, a three-time Pro Bowl selection and is without a doubt one of the best defensive players in the game. It’s hard to imagine that he could have any more leverage in contract negotiations than what he currently has, considering that the Lions offseason is essentially on hold until they are able to free up some cap space by reducing his $22.4 million.
The expectation is that Suh will surpasses the contracts five-year, $55 million deals recently signed by Geno Atkins and Gerald McCoy by a significant amount. His next deal could $12.94 million per year average and include a $25 million signing bonus.
We’ll have more regarding Suh and the Lions as the news is available.
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