By DREW SHARP
By DREW SHARP
Tribune News Service
Ndamukong Suh isn’t the villain.
The black hat belongs to Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew.
They inaccurately gauged the pulse of the negotiating process over the last 12 months, grossly miscalculating the open-market value of their best player. Lewand and Mayhew successfully conned themselves and others into believing that a fair, favorable deal with their perennial Pro Bowl defensive tackle was inevitable. They begged for patience and trust that they knew what they were doing.
But — once again — the only inevitability with the Lions is that they eventually will blow it.
Ndamu-gone!
TNS confirmed Sunday afternoon that Miami had won the Suh sweepstakes, told by a person familiar with the deal but not authorized to speak about it publicly. Suh plans to sign a six-year contract worth about $114 million with a guaranteed $60 million.
It was preordained destiny that Suh would become the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. The deal averages $19 million annually — roughly $2 million more than the contract extension J.J. Watt, the NFL’s defensive player of the year, signed in 2014 with the Houston Texans.
The Lions apparently couldn’t afford that. They also couldn’t afford dangling any longer on the line, getting into a bidding war that would have recklessly paralyzed their 2015 payroll.
But this isn’t Suh’s fault. The spurned will conveniently fault his “greed” instead of recognizing an obligation to finish what he started in Detroit as the second selection in the 2010 draft. The terminally thin-skinned will dismiss the decision as evidence of somebody who never really wanted to be in this city and was counting down the minutes to this day as soon as he signed his rookie contract five years ago.
But that’s ignoring the wrong culprits.
Lewand and Mayhew botched this. They should have more seriously considered trading Suh a year ago — as strongly suggested in this column last February — when it was apparent that this wasn’t going to be an easy negotiation with what Suh would command, the little salary cap breathing room the Lions had through prior contractual mismanagement and the need to fill significant positional holes on the offensive line and secondary to remain competitive.
An apt reminder to the Lions’ bungling is that Suh still will count $9.7 million toward their 2015 salary cap due to previous contract restructurings. That alone would make him the third highest-paid player on the roster. The Lions have more than $17 million of cap space consumed by dead money, far more than any other NFL team.
They’re still on the hook for $3.9 million to cornerback Chris Houston, who hasn’t played since 2013.
Contrary to all the Pollyanna thinking that there remained a chance for an agreement, this parting was bound to happen. The Lions fell in love with their stars and the NFL salary cap demands choosing the right ones to build around. They overpaid for Calvin Johnson three years ago, ignoring the obvious truth that it’s easier finding the next great wide receiver than any other position. They gambled on Matthew Stafford’s contract extension earlier than necessary and his career has stagnated.
Suh didn’t owe anybody a “hometown discount.” He smartly used every inch of leverage the Lions afforded him, leaving them in the cold and wondering what’s next.