Quote:The Lions would still have to free up around $ 10 million of salary cap space to be able to use the Franchise Tag on Ndamukong Suh.

 

Having said this,  I think the Lions should Franchise Suh if necessary.

 

The question I'm going to ask at this time is lets say for discussion sake that the Jaguars were in the same exact position as the Lions,  in terms of roster and salary cap situation.   Would you want the Jaguars to use the Franchise Tag on Suh if a long term contract agreement wasn't reached in the next few days?

Absolutely not. While Suh is a dominant player, paying one person 27 million dollars for one season is foolish, unless it's for an elite QB and you know you might win a superbowl because of it.


You and I discussed this right after the season ended; I just don't see any way the Lions keep him without hurting their roster. With what they're paying Megatron and Stafford, they're certainly going to have a hard pill to swallow to take a 27 million dollar cap hit for a DT. (With needs all over the secondary especially), I think Detroit would be best served to use those resources on multiple players rather than just Suh.


Ultimately, if Mayhew thinks his team is realistically close to making a superbowl, he may franchise Suh. I don't think it would work out for the long term stability of the Lions though, especially if 34 year old Rashean Mathis and Don "what the hell am I doing here" Carey are expected to be significant contributors in the secondary next year.

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