There's no such thing as close with Suh deal - Mayhew

The Detroit Lions have had "extensive" dialogue with the agent for Ndamukong Suh about a new contract, but general manager Martin Mayhew declined today to categorize the two sides as being "close" to reaching a new deal.

"As my experience with these things is, there's no such thing as close," Mayhew said in a morning sit-down with beat writers at the NFL combine. "Either it's done or it's not done. There've 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've been a bunch of deals we've felt like we were miles apart, there was no way we were going to get it done, and then the deal got done. So there's no close in negotiations. Either you have a deal or you don't."

For now, the Lions do not have a deal in place to bring Suh back for a sixth season with the team.

Mayhew said he talked briefly with Suh's agent, Jimmy Sexton, in Indianapolis earlier this week, and that team president Tom Lewand has been in sporadic but consistent contract talks.

"Tom had some extensive dialogue with him," Mayhew said.

Suh, a three-time first-team all-pro who's widely considered the best defensive tackle in NFL, will become an unrestricted free agent March 10 if he does not reach agreement on a long-term contract with the Lions before then.

Suh wants to be the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, with a contract richer than the six-year, $100-million pact J.J. Watt signed with the Houston Texans last fall. The Lions halted negotiations with him last summer when they were unwilling to meet his contract demands.

Asked today whether he's willing to make Suh the highest-paid defensive player in the game, Mayhew said, "That's a good question. That's an excellent question, and as I said, we don't negotiate through the newspapers. I think that's part of the negotiation, so we'll keep those discussions between us and Jimmy Sexton and Suh."

Suh, 28, led the Lions with 8.5 sacks last year and has never missed a game due to injury reasons in his NFL career.

His durability and production should make him the most sought free agent on the market, and Mayhew reiterated today that the team has not yet made a decision on whether it will use the franchise tag on Suh to restrict his movement next month.

Because of previous contract restructurings, Suh's tag would be a whopping $26.9 million.

"I'm not leaning any way" on the tag, Mayhew said. "It's not something we have to decide right now, so I'm not inclined to make that decision."

Though much of the Lions' off-season plans are on hold while they wait for a Suh decision -- the team is unlikely to bring back defensive tackle Nick Fairley if it re-signs Suh -- Mayhew said he hopes to strike deals with a handful of the team's own free agents before leaving the combine next week.

Mayhew said he has a meeting scheduled with kicker Matt Prater's agent, Frank Bauer, tonight, and the team has met or will meet with the agents for Fairley, cornerback Rashean Mathis, quarterback Kellen Moore, linebacker Josh Bynes and others while in Indianapolis.

Moore and Bynes are restricted free agents to whom the Lions will not tender contract offers but would like to re-sign.

As for Suh, the Lions continue to tell the agents for other prospective free agent defensive tackles and draft prospects that they expect to get a deal done sometime in the next few weeks, and Mayhew, Lewand and Lions coach Jim Caldwell have publicly expressed confidence that a contract will get done.

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