Suh wants to be billionaire; will Lions help it happen?

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh wants to be a billionaire, or so he told the Wall Street Journal.

And the contract he signs as a free agent this off-season could put him on the path to get there.

So it stands to reason that money will be the biggest factor in where Suh plays football next year, right?

"Ask Jimmy," Suh said today, referring to agent Jimmy Sexton.

Suh, who's in the midst of another all-pro season, is down to maybe his last five games as a Lion.

His rookie contract voids after the Super Bowl, and he'll garner a new deal that will make him one of the -- if not the -- highest-paid defensive players in the game.

The Lions had a chance to make him that before the season but balked at his contract demands and tabled negotiations until after the year.

Since then, Gerald McCoy, who was taken one pick after Suh in the 2010 NFL draft, signed a new deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that made him the highest-paid defensive tackle in the game ($98 million over seven years, with $51.5 million guaranteed), and defensive end J.J. Watt, who trumps Suh as the game's best defensive player, got a new contract with the Houston Texans that will pay him $100 million over six years, with $51.8 million guaranteed.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he supports Suh's vast business interests outside of football -- Suh counts famed investor Warren Buffett among his advisers -- but he wouldn't speculate on how Suh's quest to be a billionaire would impact contract negotiations.

"I'm not going to talk about that particular area," Caldwell said. "That's one that we've always said that will be dealt with after the season's over with."

Suh referred another question to Sexton when asked how close he is to being a billionaire now. He later insisted that "money's not everything" to him.

"I don't know if it's a quest to be a billionaire," Suh said. "It's more of being successful on and off the football field. First task is on the football field, and then obviously, anything after is icing on the cake. But I don't pride myself on only playing football. I got my degree for a reason; I plan on using it."

Note: NFL Play 60's latest promotion, themed "Come Out To Play," focuses on where star players, including Lions receiver Calvin Johnson, embraced football as youngsters. The spot will debut on Thanksgiving Day and run for the rest of the season. Johnson's Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Georgia, will be featured.