Caldwell Says He 'Absolutely' Expects Suh Deal To Get Done: 'I'm Always Optimistic'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - With training camp for the Detroit Lions starting Monday, heralded defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh still has not signed an extension, and new head coach Jim Caldwell and other Lions still insist the uncertainty about Suh's future is not a distraction for Suh or his teammates.
"He's in the best shape he's ever been in," Caldwell said Sunday. "I don't think he's going to let anything distract him. I'm not worried about it in that regard because [team president] Tom [Lewand] and obviously [general manager] Martin [Mayhew] and ownership will get that taken care of. I've been through it a few times. I've been through it with Peyton [Manning] on a year, been through it most recently with [Joe] Flacco. There's a number of guys that are going through that throughout the league, and our team's no different."
Caldwell said he still expects the Lions and Suh to agree on a deal.
"Absolutely," Caldwell said. "I'm always optimistic ... I think without question they're working at it, and I think something will be done at the appropriate time."
As far as whether negotiations will cease upon the start of the regular season, the coach said he did not know the specific arrangements.
"I'm not certain," Caldwell said. "Talks and et cetera are going on here, there. I'm not certain exactly. That's not my area of expertise necessarily, but they were talking and have been talking, and when it gets close, you guys are going to know anyway. We'll let you know. It'll get done at the appropriate time."
Suh will be a free agent at the end of this season, but players say they are just happy to have him here for 2014. If they have been recruiting Suh to stay, they did not admit it Sunday.
"I don't think there's much talking to him," Lions center Dominic Raiola said. "Right now I know he's under contract with the Detroit Lions and he's coming to camp. That's that. The thing about free agency is you don't have to sign an extension. He's under contract. He has to be here. There's no - I don't know what the benefit is, maybe some cap help, but he's here, he's a Detroit Lion and I'm excited for that. The guy looks more like Adonis now. I think he cut out more body fat and put on more weight, which is scary because the guy, he's an exceptional player, one of the best d-tackles that I know we play against all year long.
"I'd love to have him here long-term, but that's for him and his agent and for the front office to figure out," Raiola added. "I don't think it's going to be a distraction. We're focused on right now, and he's under contract right now and he's here."
Linebacker Stephen Tulloch took a similar approach to the Suh situation.
"We don't have to say anything to Suh," Tulloch said. "Suh's a businessman, as we all know. When things get done, they get done.
"He'll be here, he won't be, who knows?" Tulloch added. "The contract stuff, it's out of my control. It's out of his control. I don't have to sell him the pitch. We all know who he is and what he can do for our team … Until that contract expires, then we can all panic and worry, but until that time, he's under contract and he'll be here to play."
Raiola did have one idea to keep Suh in Detroit - win games. Suh will receive monstrous money wherever he signs, just as he has over four seasons with Detroit, a time span in which the Lions have averaged fewer than seven wins per year.
"If we win, people are going to want to stay here and play here," Raiola said. "I'm not saying that's what [Suh] wants. I'm just saying if you win, it makes a place desirable, and especially with Coach Caldwell. That's what I want to do. I want to win for this guy because I want this guy to be here a long time. I want to finish my career with this guy, whenever it may be - one, two more years, whatever. That's my motivation, and I know for a lot of people it's winning.
"I don't know if it's dollars and cents," Raiola added, "but that would be my thinking - how do you keep people here? Win."