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Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley, center, torpedos Saints quarterback Drew Brees during a game last season.

(Melanie Maxwell | MLive.com)

INDIANAPOLIS -- Ndamukong Suh isn't the only first-round pick who could hit the open market in three weeks.

Detroit Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley is set to become a free agent March 10. Just when he was starting to turn a corner, too.

And the Lions still have not decided whether they'll pursue him.

"We have not," general manager Martin Mayhew said Wednesday at the NFL combine in Indianapolis. "I think that I'll meet with his agent down here. We'll discuss Nick's situation.

"There are a lot of guys like that in free agency right now. We're in dialogue about all those guys. Really, it's a matter of setting some priorities and then understanding some tradeoffs that have to happen. You know, when certain things happen, certain other things don't happen, and vice versa."

One of those variables, certainly, is the future of Suh.

The Lions have said re-signing the star defensive tackle is their top offseason priority, and Mayhew is optimistic something will materialize.

If a deal does come together, the Lions likely will have about 40 percent of their payroll wrapped up in Suh, Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford next season. That means they'll have to tighten the belt to finish off the roster.

And players such as Fairley could walk.

His tenure with the Lions has been one of unfulfilled promise. He was really good at his best, but had trouble maintaining that level of performance due to his weight and health.

But Fairley responded to the pleas of Mayhew and coach Jim Caldwell last season. He hired a personal chef and slimmed below 300 pounds for the first time since his Auburn days.

He was putting together a career year because of it until suffering a season-ending knee injury in a Week 8 win against Atlanta. When he suffered the injury, his 16 QB hurries ranked second at the position. ProFootballFocus ranked him ninth among all defensive tackles.

Fairley was finally starting to look like the guy Detroit envisioned when drafting him 13th overall in 2011.

But part of the Lions' efforts to motivate Fairley included declining his relatively affordable 2015 option. Now he's a free agent, and probably will command much more than the $5.5 million he would have made under his original deal.

The Lions might not be able to afford it, depending on what happens with their other first-round defensive tackle.

"A lot of it revolves around Suh," Mayhew said. "I can see a scenario where we have Suh and Nick back, but I can also see a scenario where we have neither one of them."

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