Lions free agent countdown: No. 1 Ndamukong Suh

The Detroit Lions have 18* pending unrestricted free agents, and we've spent three weeks counting down each player and examining how or if they fit into the future of the team. Free agency opens March 10, the Lions can re-sign any of their players before the start of the new league year, and they can use the franchise or transition tag on one player now through March 2.

Ndamukong Suh

Age: 28

Position: DT

Other DTs under contract for 2015: Caraun Reid, Xavier Proctor, Roy Philon, Jermelle Cudjo

Other DTs entering free agency: Nick Fairley, C.J. Mosley, Andre Fluellen

How acquired: Drafted, first round 2010

2014 stats: 16 GP, 16 GS, 53 tackles, 8.5 sack

2014 salary: $12.55 million

The future: Suh is the No. 1 pending free agent in the NFL, regardless of position, and he holds all the cards in a negotiation that appears to be headed to the deadline. The Lions have made it clear they want to re-sign Suh, and Suh has made it clear he wants to be the highest paid defensive player in the league, something he'll surely achieve no matter who he signs with this off-season. The Lions are still deciding whether to use the franchise tag on Suh at a cost of $26.9 million. That's an absurdly high number, but it tells you how much he means to the team. If he leaves for big money in Oakland, Jacksonville or someplace else, the Lions defense won't be the same next year. There's little incentive for him to sign before the three-day free-agent negotiating period begins, but the Lions have to do everything in their power to get a deal done.

* Previous versions of this series showed the Lions with 20 unrestricted free agents, but long-snapper Don Muhlbach re-signed on Friday and the Lions and NFL Players Association resolved a disagreement over George Jonson's status as a restricted free agent.

Previously:

No. 2 Nick Fairley

No. 3 Rashean Mathis

No. 4 George Johnson

No. 5 Matt Prater

No. 6 C.J. Mosley

No. 7 Isa Abdul-Quddus

No. 8 Darryl Tapp

No. 9 Rob Sims

No. 10 Dominic Raiola

No. 11 Don Muhlbach

No. 12 Jed Collins

No. 13 Ashlee Palmer

No. 14 Corey Hilliard

No. 15 Dan Orlovsky

No. 16 Cassius Vaughn

No. 17 Garrett Reynolds

No. 18 Andre Fluellen

No. 19 Kellen Davis

No. 20 Josh Thomas

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.



