Ndamukong Suh named top free agent for 2015

It is a loaded 2015 free-agent class -- at least for now, until franchise tags and last-minute deals are applied -- but one player stands above everyone else, according to colleague Kevin Seifert.

That player is Ndamukong Suh.


The former No. 2 pick in the 2010 draft leads Seifert's list of the top 20 free agents and is the only Detroit Lions player on the list. In the description of why Suh is the top player, colleague Matt Williamson notes that Suh could play in a 4-3 as a tackle or a 3-4 as an end -- making him extremely versatile as well.


So far, teams have only seen Suh line up at tackle, other than a handful of plays in pass-rush situations when Suh lined up outside of the end, turning the end into a tackle and a tackle into an end to leverage blocking situations.


There are many opinions, though, of what the Lions should do with Suh.


Tom Gower from Football Outsiders writes that the Lions should let Suh walk to another team in free agency, and his reasoning is somewhat understandable. The Lions could then afford to sign more high-level players at different positions with the money it would take to retain Suh.

Some of the concern there, though, is how much Suh actually means to Detroit's defensive structure. The Lions spent the past four seasons building a defense around their talented front four and came away with a deep, dominant group last season. Now, both Suh and Nick Fairley are free agents along with role players C.J. Mosley, Andre Fluellen, George Johnson and Darryl Tapp. So the Lions have to decide how much of that front they want to keep and how they want to structure the front overall. If Detroit wants to continue building around a dominant defensive front, bringing back Suh is almost paramount there.


That leads to the argument Nathan Jahnke of Pro Football Focus is making. He is saying Suh is one of 10 players in the NFL who should receive the franchise tag from their teams. At Suh's rate, it would be north of $26.7 million, in addition to the $9.7 million he would cost in dead money no matter where he lands in 2015.


His reasoning is analogous to what I wrote last season and still agree with: Suh is a rare player who can alter an entire team's offensive game plan. He forces double-teams on every play. He is also a player who is good against the run and the pass and -- as mentioned above -- is a cornerstone to what the Lions have tried to build.


Much like when he is on the field, Suh is a polarizing player that everyone has an opinion on, both as a player and where he should land. The two opinions that matter the most -- that of Suh and his agent, Jimmy Sexton -- might be the only two opinions most people don't know about right now.


This year-long saga is now less than a month from a conclusion.