Mayhew may franchise Suh

[jdwills126]

My concern is if the Lions pay Suh 26 million that limits what they can do for free agency. Another season with Ovrvlosky? Cutting veterans and filling a lot of holes with rookies?

And my number one concern is injury. If Suh goes down he is a 26 million dollar paper weight and the Lions have zero ability to fill the hole because they could not add good backups. The same thought applies at other positions as well. Detroit's offensive line was hit hard with injuries but outside of Swanson and Lucas both untested rookies that did well but you have to wonder how many times you can get that production from rookies, they couldn't really add anyone else of note.

I really don't want to see Stafford's contract reworked. The Lions need to have the ability to move on from him if he can't get the Lions to the next level. I like Stafford as a QB but in all reality I don't want to say he is the Lions QB the next 5-6 years due to contract. So even a long term has to have some fiscal responsibility.

Plus I don't even want to be on these boards if the Lions sign Suh to a one year deal and then have to listen to all the we should go out and sign player X in free agency when the Lions have no cap space left. Or ow about so and so who just got cut. The Lions are going to have some big contracts coming up in the next few years and I would hate to see the Lions play hardball with guys like Levy, Ansah, or Warford because they are cash strapped.

 

[RobBase]

The Lions are playing for now. They told us this last year when they said playoffs or bust. Who cares about 4 years from now. Win now. All that matters is next year. I really don't give a shit about Levy and Warford years from now if we can't win now. This regime is gone by the time those guys contracts up anyways if the Lions don't start winning big now so it's really a moot point.

For all we know those guys wouldn't fit into the next regimes scheme.

Keep Suh. Win now. Were the Lions. We've never been closer. Don't fuck it up.

 

[Naughtymax]

Hardy?

Greg Hardy will stand trial on February 9 | ProFootballTalk

Yup. He'd cost $14-$15MM without the pending possible suspension (though the season-long miss this year will probably help the eventual term like it did with AP). He should be available at a relative bargain $10-$11MM per. Stud pass rushers don't grow on trees. Structure it with very little signing bonus so if he doesn't play, he doesn't cost.

 

[RobBase]

Yup. He'd cost $14-$15MM without the pending possible suspension (though the season-long miss this year will probably help the eventual term like it did with AP). He should be available at a relative bargain $10-$11MM per. Stud pass rushers don't grow on trees. Structure it with very little signing bonus so if he doesn't play, he doesn't cost.

The reduced salary assumption answers my follow up question.

I don't expect guys with domestic assault issues will be on the Lions radar, but that's my assumption.

I think they will let Fairley go for similar maturity issues, although at the right price I'd like to see him stay.

 

[Microwahevo]

With Suh, we are a contender IMO. That might be debatable to some, but what's not debatable is that we are definitely not a contender without him.

I think it very much is debatable whether we're a contender with Suh or not. It's not like every year Suh has been here has seen Detroit atop the NFL in team defense. We've seen two playoff seasons with Suh as a Lion.

We don't know what the Lions will look like without him. This team is completely different than it was before he got here. I feel our talent level at the other positions is much better overall. So if we do happen to lose him, which could be a reality, we will still be in a decent spot to build on.

I had a very good feeling about Austin this offseason as I liked the success he had in previous positions. Imo, if we lose Suh we'll still be good defensively with Austin here. That extra $27 million can go towards players to replace Suh and other positions of need.

I would love to keep Suh, but nothing is set in stone. Just b/c Mayhew and co. want him here doesn't mean he himself wants to be here. Mayhew was even quoted as saying he knows they need to increase the financial aspect to keep him here, but that they wouldn't go overboard.

 

[TBBishop]

Franchising Suh would cost more than the amount of free cap space the Lions expect to have so not only would they not be able to upgrade other positions, they would have to dump other salaries. This just can't happen. Get a reasonable deal done or let him walk. I want to keep Suh as much as anyone but we can't be stupid about it. We want to get better and to do that we need to be able to upgrade several positions. Overpaying Suh or even worse franchising him would ensure that we get worse, not better.

 

[RobBase]

Just b/c Mayhew and co. want him here doesn't mean he himself wants to be here. Mayhew was even quoted as saying he knows they need to increase the financial aspect to keep him here, but that they wouldn't go overboard.

Mayhew is quoted as saying Suh wants to be here. Haven't seen the other quote yet.

 

[TwoCents22]

So how exactly are you guys measuring Mayhew for this off-season?

Because if he let's Suh go and we don't get any decent Free Agents, I don't want to hear you guys bitch. There's one guaranteed way to keep us a contender. That's by keeping Suh.

If we let Suh go, and are unsuccessful in free agency, I will blast Mayhew. You guys won't be able to because your whole plan was to let Suh walk and hope that we get free agents.

I have no idea why you would worry about cap space this year when we walk away after next year. Franchising Suh doesn't affect us next off-season 1 bit, all while keeping our defense legit this year.

 

[RobBase]

I think it very much is debatable whether we're a contender with Suh or not. .

I believe it's not up for debate. Mayhew, Stafford and Calvin never went to the playoffs without Suh. With Suh the Lions contended for the playoffs 3 out of 5 years and made them twice.

 

[TwoCents22]

By the way, whoever thinks tagging Suh would be "the worst case scenario", I couldn't disagree more.

That would be if we didn't tag him, and he followed Austin to Chicago.

 

[TBBishop]

I think it very much is debatable whether we're a contender with Suh or not. It's not like every year Suh has been here has seen Detroit atop the NFL in team defense. We've seen two playoff seasons with Suh as a Lion.

We don't know what the Lions will look like without him. This team is completely different than it was before he got here. I feel our talent level at the other positions is much better overall. So if we do happen to lose him, which could be a reality, we will still be in a decent spot to build on.

I had a very good feeling about Austin this offseason as I liked the success he had in previous positions. Imo, if we lose Suh we'll still be good defensively with Austin here. That extra $27 million can go towards players to replace Suh and other positions of need.

I would love to keep Suh, but nothing is set in stone. Just b/c Mayhew and co. want him here doesn't mean he himself wants to be here. Mayhew was even quoted as saying he knows they need to increase the financial aspect to keep him here, but that they wouldn't go overboard.

Instead of overpaying Suh, I would try to sign Fairly for $6-7 mil tops because even though the performance was finally there, he still was on the table more than he was playing. I'd bring back Mosley again for backup money. I'd go after someone like Pot Roast Knighton who we could get for far less than Suh and wouldn't be a huge dropoff in production. We could probably sign all 3 of these guys for less than signing Suh.

 

[Microwahevo]

Mayhew is quoted as saying Suh wants to be here. Haven't seen the other quote yet.

For openers, Mayhew was asked if Suh would be re-signed at any cost.

“At any cost? No, I wouldn’t say that,” Mayhew answered.

 

[Microwahevo]

I believe it's not up for debate. Mayhew, Stafford and Calvin never went to the playoffs without Suh. With Suh the Lions contended for the playoffs 3 out of 5 years and made them twice.

Stafford was here one year without Suh. Suh's rookie season Stafford was hurt for most of it. Then he came back strong in '11, had the best statistical year of his young career and the Lions made the playoffs.

I'm not saying Stafford alone helped the Lions reach the playoffs twice, but I think it is debatable whether Suh makes us a continual contender. My reasons were stated previously.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

40 players signed right now with a cap of 120 mil. Suh's tag cost 27 mil.... math says that comes to 147 mil and still needing 13 roster spots filled not to mention 10 Practice squad players. Possible 2015 cap 140 mil by some pundits. Fuck, let's just say 142.5 mil for arguments sake.


what's wrong with that picture.


cut tully, bush ?........ saves 4.9 mil...... 2 more roster spots to be filled now... up to 15 roster spots now need to be filled... you've got 400k to work with before all these fucked up re-structures come into play.... AGAIN.... kicking the shit down the road.... #NOWORRIES
then what ? ...... and NO starting LG, DT, PK, FB, and on and on and on and on


I don't want Suh to go but I sure as hell don't want to see Cot Damn Tag Either. No one on the market plays like Suh and only (2-3) players come reasonably close, IMO, Atkins, McCoy and maybe Donald after a couple more years.

 

[TBBishop]

So how exactly are you guys measuring Mayhew for this off-season?

Because if he let's Suh go and we don't get any decent Free Agents, I don't want to hear you guys bitch. There's one guaranteed way to keep us a contender. That's by keeping Suh.

If we let Suh go, and are unsuccessful in free agency, I will blast Mayhew. You guys won't be able to because your whole plan was to let Suh walk and hope that we get free agents.

I have no idea why you would worry about cap space this year when we walk away after next year. Franchising Suh doesn't affect us next off-season 1 bit, all while keeping our defense legit this year.

Our defense can be legit without Suh. There are a lot of good football players on this D. Levy, Ansah, Slay, Quin, young guys getting better...losing Suh isn't the end of the world. Franchising Suh might be though. Paying Suh $20 mil a year might be. You don't typically see the Patriots, the Ravens, the stankin' ass Packers overpaying players. They just keep it moving and end up in pretty much the same place every year, at the top of the league in some way, shape or form. The teams that overpay "irreplaceable" players may have a moment in the sun but it doesn't last. And yes even a moment in the sun would be better than what we've had but is that what you really want? So the way I'll judge the job Mayhew does is this. If he franchises Suh I'll think he's already failed us this offseason. If he over pays Suh I'll be skeptical. But it will all come down to how many playoff games we WIN next postseason!

 

[TBBishop]

I believe it's not up for debate. Mayhew, Stafford and Calvin never went to the playoffs without Suh. With Suh the Lions contended for the playoffs 3 out of 5 years and made them twice.

Correct, the Lions didn't go to the playoffs in their ONE year without Suh.

 

[TBBishop]

By the way, whoever thinks tagging Suh would be "the worst case scenario", I couldn't disagree more.

That would be if we didn't tag him, and he followed Austin to Chicago.

Anyone hiring Austin for a head coaching job right now are fucking fools. He'll fail miserably, he needs a couple few more years before he's ready for that IMO. So I wouldn't see that as the worst case scenario. But Chicago might just be dumb enough to do that.

 

[Gulf of Brazil]

TO TBbISHOP


Mayhew didn't think Fairley was a 5.5 mil guy before not picking up his 5th year option so why would Fairley be getting a 6-7 mil per year contract after coming off a significant knee injury, maturity issues and a helluva lot more that I won't even bother to list...

 

[TwoCents22]

Our defense can be legit without Suh. There are a lot of good football players on this D. Levy, Ansah, Slay, Quin, young guys getting better...

Franchising Suh doesn't affect those guys being here. Not 1 bit.

 

[TBBishop]

TO TBbISHOP


Mayhew didn't think Fairley was a 5.5 mil guy before not picking up his 5th year option so why would Fairley be getting a 6-7 mil per year contract after coming off a significant knee injury, maturity issues and a helluva lot more that I won't even bother to list...

Mayhew didn't think the Fairly that refused to watch his weight, work hard and show up every week to play was worth $5.5 mil. Before he got hurt, he was in control of his weight, working hard and showing up every week to play. He still has his weight under control even though he missed half the season. He supposedly was after rehab hard. He was apparently begging them to let him play against Dallas because he felt the team needed him. Obviously if Mayhew doesn't believe Fairley has turned the corner then he wouldn't give him the money but you can be assured someone will if we don't.