Martin Mayhew’s Five Best Decisions
By Jeff Risdon
Not Re-Signing Ndamukong Suh
Consider this one Mayhew’s parting gift to the Lions. Sure, Ndamukong Suh is a great player. He was an integral piece of the vastly improved Detroit defense in the 2014 playoff season.
However, his free agency price tag proved higher than Mayhew and the Lions expected. After protracted negotiations went nowhere, Suh took the big money and ran to Miami.
Many Lions fans ripped Mayhew to shreds for letting such a talent leave the building with no recompense. And he absolutely deserved the criticism for not being as prepared for the eventual price tag or the possibility Suh would actually leave the Lions.
But Suh’s departure spared the Lions all sorts of salary cap and contractual woes. Miami is feeling that pain, already asking Suh to restructure his 6-year, $114 million contract just one year into the mega deal.
His talent and production comes at a considerable cost. Detroit struggled for years under the weight of bloated contracts just like this, including Suh’s rookie deal. Now the team is free from that sort of salary cap hell. Had Suh re-signed, there would be no Marvin Jones or Geoff Schwartz on the roster.
Even though it was a result of his own shortcomings as Lions GM, Mayhew losing Suh in free agency wound up being a solid move for the greater good in Detroit.
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