Lions' future at stake over Ndamukong Suh

Detroit faces 4 p.m. deadline to franchise Suh

DETROIT – The pressure is on.

The Lions have until 4 p.m. Monday to decide if they will use the franchise tag on Ndamukong Suh for 2015.

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The period when NFL teams can slap a franchise tag on a player stared on Feb. 16. But today is the deadline. If the Lions don't either come to a deal or put the tag on Suh, he will become a free agent with the right to sign with any team in the league.

Today will demonstrate whether the Lions are trying to win a Super Bowl or just trying to save face.

The Lions have tried to sign Suh, the Pro Bowl defensive tackle for almost two years without success. They have even heard all the rumors that Suh won't sign a deal with the franchise and simply wants to bolt Motown.

Reportedly, the Lions offered Suh a package that would make him the highest-paid player at his position. It didn't move Suh to sign.

All indications are that Suh doesn't want to be here after spending his first five NFL seasons in Detroit. Normally, a team would have moved on. Not the Lions, though.

The Lions can't stand the idea of losing Suh, one of the top players in the league, even though franchising him would probably prevent them from adding other pieces and becoming a Super Bowl-caliber team.

The franchise tag simply makes no sense, especially if this organization is serious about fielding a team that has a shot to win a Super Bowl.

After all, isn't that the goal? The Lions have won just one playoff game since 1957 and are one of only four teams never to make it to the Super Bowl (the other three are all expansion teams).

Nonetheless, we all get it. Suh is a star. Of course the Lions want Suh to anchor their top-ranked defense. It's a no-brainer.

But the Lions can't do it at all costs. And if Suh isn't willing to sign a deal that works for both him and the team, it's just not worth it.

Fans can't blame the Lions' organization if Suh doesn't want to sign. It's clear they want Suh and have tried in good faith to keep a player they drafted.

Few players would have left a mega-bucks offer with guaranteed cheese on the table to play a full season. Don't forget, a player can be hurt on any play, even suffer a career-ending injury. But that's what Suh did in 2014. He gambled and won.

Suh does deserve to get paid. Suh is a productive, game-changing player that most teams would take in a heartbeat.

But most winning organizations wouldn't keep a player just to keep him. The money you have to pay him will cripple your ability to do anything else free agent-wise.

Suh's franchise tag number for this coming season is a whopping $26,870,000.

Plus, if the Lions do franchise Suh, that's $26.9 million and another $9.7 million in "dead money" that's already been paid out on the team's cap.

That would mean $36.6 million would count against the NFL projected $143 million cap for 2015. Hence, that's roughly 25% of the cap used on ONE player.

Add Matthew Stafford's money ($17.7 million) and Calvin Johnson's loot ($20.6 million) to Suh's potential franchise tag package and those three players ($74.89 million) would drain the franchise's ability to sign other quality players needed for depth.

The Lions can't worry about fans screaming to the high heavens. They will say the organization is dumb to let Suh go if the team balks at tagging him.

But most fans simply don't understand the ramifications of trying to use the an expensive franchise tag to basically lengthen the time you can negotiate with Suh and possibly get a deal done.

It just doesn't seem possible, however. It doesn't seem as if Suh wants to be in Detroit anymore.

In all honestly, if Suh was serious about this organization and what is being built here, he would have signed a new contract already.

If the Lions give in, it won't help this organization as much as it will hurt it.