Detroit Lions hold 'extensive' negotiations with Ndamukong Suh's agent

The Detroit Lions used the NFL combine to do more than just scout draft prospects.

The front office met with the agents for several of the club's pending free agents, including kicker Matt Prater, defensive tackle Nick Fairley -- and, yes, star tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Detroit has made re-signing Suh its top priority, and team president Tom Lewand parlayed with Suh's agent, Jimmy Sexton, in Indianapolis.

"Tom had some extensive dialogue with him," general manager Martin Mayhew said over breakfast at the combine. "I saw him when he first showed up at the hotel. Had a brief conversation downstairs. But we've been in contact with him since we've been down there."

Suh is believed to be seeking a contract that would make him the highest paid defensive player in the game. That means matching the $100 million deal that JJ Watt signed with Houston last fall.

Are the Lions willing to go that high?

"That's a good question. That's an excellent question. And as I've said, we don't negotiate through newspapers," Mayhew said. "I think that's part of the negotiations, and I think I'll keep that between us.

"We're not going to get in the paper and start saying what we offered, and they offered. ... That doesn't make a lot of sense from my standpoint. I don't know how that benefits us, or how that benefits the process. So we'll stay out of that."

Detroit has been trying to work out a deal with Suh for more than a year now. Mayhew said at last year's combine he believed Detroit would have something in place by the start of free agency.

But then Suh fired Roosevelt Barnes, his old agent. And 12 months later, there's still no agreement.

The Lions eventually tabled negotiations before the start of training camp. Talks have since resumed, and Mayhew characterized them as "sporadic but consistent."

"Any dialogue is progress," Mayhew said. "I think we both have the same objective, and that is to get something done. And so we continue to dialogue about that. It helps to have a better understanding of where they're coming from, and it helps them to have a better understanding of where we're coming from."

With the start of free agency just 15 days away, are the sides any closer to reaching an accord?

"My experience with these things is there's no such thing as close," Mayhew said. "It's either done or it's not done. There have been a lot of deals where we felt like we were really close -- like it was right around the corner, it was going to get done -- and it never happened. And there have been a bunch of deals where it felt like we were miles apart, and there was no way we were going to get it done, and a deal got done. You know? so there's no close in the negotiations. Either you have a deal or you don't.

"Sometimes we've agreed to deals on the phone, and people have been clamoring to know is the deal done? And to me, it's not done until the language has been gone through, the agent has signed off on it, the player has signed off on it. At that point, the deal is done. But prior to that, you don't have a deal.

The Lions have said they would consider using the franchise tag on Suh if a deal cannot be reached, despite a prohibitive $26.9 million price tag.

Mayhew said Detroit hasn't decided yet whether it would actually pull the trigger on the tag. The deadline for a decision is March 2 -- a week from today.

"The deadline exists, and I like to use the deadline to deliberate on things," Mayhew said.

"I'm not leaning any way," he added. "It's not something we have to decide right now, so I'm not inclined to make that decision (yet)."