Suh On Lions' Draft: 'I Could Have Gone Elsewhere' [VIDEO]
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Following Wednesday's team practice, star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh gave no details on how his contract negotiations are proceeding but said he does want to stay in Detroit.
This follows reports from a couple of weeks ago that said the Lions were exploring a Suh trade.
To prove he truly wants to be with the Lions, Suh offered the following explanation.
"I had an opportunity - a lot of you guys don't know - I could have gone elsewhere when I was drafted," Suh said. "I had that decision in my hands. I chose not to take it because that's just the way I saw it. Same thing when I went to Nebraska. I wanted to be a part of something that wasn't just already set up, where it's on its way to getting better and I want to be one of the cornerstones of it."
As far as how he could have gone elsewhere when the entire setup of the NFL draft dictates that teams select players - not the other way around - Suh kept his response vague.
"There's many ways to do things," Suh said. "You can drop down in the draft, you can move up in the draft, people can come get you. There's a lot of things that happen that you guys don't know."
Teams decide whether they move up or down or stay put in the draft, of course, but Suh insisted he had control of where he landed.
"It my choice," Suh said. "It is, for sure, my choice. Like I said, that's all water under the bridge. I'm here in Detroit. I'm happy to be here in Detroit, and I'm going to continue to play my heart out as I've always done and continue to do."
Suh refused to comment further, but he seemed to be suggesting that he could have told Detroit he would not sign if the Lions drafted him, similar to what Eli Manning did in 2004 when he said he did not want to play for the San Diego Chargers.
