Once the final seconds ticked off of their playoff loss to the Cowboys and kicked off their offseason, the Lions’ thoughts turned to defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Suh is set to become a free agent next month if the Lions don’t sign him to a long-term contract or franchise tag him at a potential cost of $26.9 million. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson would like to avoid that possibility and pledged to help the team out in their attempt to hold onto one of the league’s best defensive players.
“I’ll do whatever I got to do,” Johnson said, via the Detroit Free Press.
That could take the form of direct appeals to Suh or a contract restructuring that frees up more money in the short term with Johnson set to account for a little more than $20 million of the team’s 2015 cap space. However things play out with Johnson, the Lions’ decisions with Suh will be a big part of setting the course for the offseason in Detroit and elsewhere since Suh’s address for 2015 is one of the biggest dominoes to fall on the way to next season.
