In the end, the Detroit Lions just couldn't justify placing the franchise tag on defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
It would have cost the team a one-year tender of $27 million, which — along with the bloated salaries of Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford — would have crippled the Lions' salary-cap situation and perhaps hindered their chances to re-sign Suh and even Nick Fairley, another key free agent.
The reason his cap figure was so high was because Suh's cap number was $22 million a year ago in his redone deal, and the franchise rules require a 20 percent kicker over that number.
The Lions are playing with fire, but they clearly still harbor hopes they can re-sign Suh to a long-term deal. They'll have until March 10, which is the opening of free agency, to lock up Suh or risk losing him to the open market, where the money could exceed what the Lions can afford.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm
from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/17Koghu
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