You win some, you lose some. On paper, the Lions lost one of the best defensive players in the NFL. But according to Lions GM Martin Mayhew, losing Ndamukong Suh is a double-edged sword, with more positive than negative.
Mayhew and and Lions are content with not having to pay Suh’s massive contract he got with the Dolphins. Suh will get $114 million over 6 years and Mayhew knows the long term damage that could do to the Lions cap.
“I think anytime you lose a quality player like that, especially in the short term, that is to your detriment,” Mayhew said, per the Detroit Free Press. “I think in the long term, I think we’re going to be glad we don’t have that contract on our books. But in the short term, that’s an issue.”
The Lions have already traded for veteran Haloti Ngata in exchange for two draft picks, but also lost former 1st round DT Nick Fairley too. Money was definitely the issue here.
“I think throughout the last, probably since we did Matthew (Stafford’s) contract, whenever that was, we’ve always sort of been top heavy with a few guys out there,” Mayhew said. “And then the thing about the franchise tag was continuing to kick the can down the road and restructure deals to make that happen and we want to get out of that situation at some point so that didn’t make a lot of sense.”
So while the Lions saved money by letting him go, only time will tell if they will replace his on-field production.
Source: NFL
