Mike Morbeck & Jeffrey Beall-Flickr
The Detroit Lions front-seven has had the reputation of being a disruptive bunch over the last few years. But now all of a sudden, it appears the band may be breaking up. Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley lead the front-seven, and now it looks like it could only be one of them after this upcoming season. Suh puts up the numbers of a top Defensive-lineman, but his cap hit is a huge factor, when it comes to keeping him. Fairley on the other hand, hasn’t produced as well as the Lions thought he would. Now it’s time to look deeper into why one of the two could be on their way out of the door.
Let’s face it, Suh is the leader of the Lions’ front-seven on Defense and possibly the leader of the entire Defense. He’s a very aggressive player and is sometimes called the dirtiest player in the game. He exploded into the NFL and is averaging just about 7-sacks, along with an average of 46.5-tackles a season. He had a dip in Sacks last year with 5.5 but also had a career high 6 Pass-deflections and 6 stuffs. There is no question, when it comes to his talent. The real question is when you talk about his salary. His salary for the 2014-15 season is $21.415 million, which is outrageous given his position. He is making $4 million more than his own Quarterback Matthew Stafford. Yes Suh puts up great numbers and is respected throughout the league for his ability, but that cap hit is just way too high. A suggestion would be to trade him, but what team would take that salary? The other possibility would be to renegotiate but apparently Suh has stopped all contract talks since refusing the Lions’ latest offer. The Lions are in a tricky situation because they must either trade him, try to renegotiate or just take the cap hit and move on from the situation. My best guess would be to renegotiate, because if they trade him, they lose a top talent and if they take the cap hit, they lose a lot of money to strengthen other positions on their team.
Fairley’s is a completely different situation and can be handled much easier. For those who don’t know Fairley was the 13th overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. The Lions had very high expectations that pairing him with Suh would be a huge problem for offenses and the two of them could be the top Defensive-lineman tandem in the league. Since 2011 it has not looked that way at all. In his first 3 seasons he has 84-tackles, with 12.5-sacks. There have been many questions, when it comes to his motivation and passion for the game. The latest news is that Fairley has been moved to the 2nd team coming into the Lions 3rd Preseason game. This could be a bad sign but since he has been a starter since, he came into the league he could be bumped up when the regular season starts. Another negative is that 2nd year player Ezekiel Ansah will be expected to step up after having a strong Rookie-season and Defensive-lineman C.J. Mosley has shown signs of improvement and replaced Fairley with the starters. The easiest solution would be to start Fairley when the season starts, and if he isn’t starting strong then just move him back down to 2nd string. If he still doesn’t improve, they could try to wait it out or trade him for a more valuable position by the trade deadline in week 8. Fairley’s best option would be to get his act together and play the best football he possibly can.
The Lions have some difficult decisions to make by the trade deadline or at the end of next season. If it was my guess, I would say Suh stays, mainly because no team is going to take that cap hit. That and the Lions will revisit his contract negotiation. The two could stay if Fairley has his best football ahead of him and puts on a dominant display in the upcoming season. If he doesn’t, I believe he will be traded by the deadline for a more valuable asset for the team. I also believe the Lions and Suh will renegotiate to get his cap number down, so the team can focus on dispersing the money to more valuable positions. We will know for sure once the season starts.
Brandon Vallar is a Writer for Couch Rider Report. Follow us on Facebook or twitter.
