Ndamukong Suh's Detroit Lions Timeline
By: David Hull
@hatchetman971
2010-Rookie Year
- Before the draft: Suh signed with Maximum Sports Management and agent Roosevelt Barnes. This caused moderate concern for many teams who were hoping to draft him, as this was the same agent who represented Michael Crabtree. Crabtree was the longest 2009 NFL Draft 1st round contract holdout, waiting over six weeks into the NFL season before signing with the San Francisco 49ers. Crabtree threatened to re-enter the 2010 NFL Draft.
- April: Ndamukong Suh drafted #2 overall by the Detroit Lions
- Summer 2010: Ndamukong Suh was involved in a car accident in Royal Oak
- August: Suh agreed to a five-year, $68 million contract with the Lions, including $40 million guaranteed.
2011-Year 2
- November: Suh pushed Packers' offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith's head into the ground three times, then stomped on his arm. Suh was penalized for unnecessary roughness and ejected from the game.
- Suh denied stomping on Dietrich-Smith, saying he was only trying to get his balance back. However, the next day, the Lions issued a statement calling Suh's actions "unacceptable". Within hours, Suh wrote on his Facebook page that he'd "made a mistake" a day before and intended to learn from it. Suh was suspended for 2 games.
2012-Year 3
- March: Ndamukong Suh restructures deal along with Matthew Stafford and Nate Burleson, allowing the Lions to extend Calvin Johnson's contract.
- October 11: Ndamukong Suh was involved in a car accident in Dearborn. According to the other driver involved, Suh sideswiped a car and left the scene. Suh was not be charged or fined in this incident. According to the Dearborn Police, fault for the accident could not be determined.
- October 12: Ndamukong and his sister Ngum were sued for withholding a security deposit on a property they owned. Ngum Suh later in the week tweeted "Thank You Jesus. Only 2 ½ more years.
- November: Ndamukong Suh kicks Texans QB Matt Schaub in the groin. "I was being dragged to the ground, and my foot inadvertently hit the man," Suh told reporters. Suh was fined $30k
2013-Year 4
- March: Ndamukong Suh restructured his deal. This restructure along with Dominic Raiola and Nate Burleson taking pay cuts, allowed the Lions to sign Chris Houston, Jason Jones, Reggie Bush, and Glover Quin.
- 2013 Season: Suh was fined 3 separate times for actions on the field.
2014-Final Year
- January: Ndamukong Suh fires his agent Roosevelt Barnes.
- 21, 2014: Lions GM Martin Mayhew spoke: "I anticipate we'll get something done. He has said he wants to be here, we'd like him to be here. That's my mindset right now.'' Mayhew denied rumors that the Lions would trade Suh. They were trying to extend Suh prior to the start of the 2014 free agency to free up salary cap space and couldn't get the deal done.
- March 7, 2014: Suh hired agent Jimmy Sexton
- May: Ndamukong Suh spoke during OTAs and said he's happy in Detroit. "Probably a lot of you guys don't know, I could have gone elsewhere when I was drafted," Suh explained, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. "Had that decision in my hands. I chose not to take it because that's just the way I saw it." Asked to elaborate, Suh responded, "There's many ways to do things. You can drop down in the draft, you can move up." "It is my choice. It is for sure my choice," Suh insisted. "But like I said, that's water under the bridge."
- July 28, 2014: At the start of training camp, team president Tom Lewand said: "We've had a lot of conversations over the offseason. Every one of the contract negotiations is different. In light of where we are and most importantly in light of getting ready for the season and keeping the focus where it should be, we've decided to table the discussions with Ndamukong on any further discussions until after the season.''
- 10, 2014: Suh said regarding his contract status "It'll be Jimmy's decision (on where I sign), we'll go with that. You can call Jimmy (Sexton) if you want to.'' Same day, when asked about possibility of playing his last home game at Ford Field, Suh said, "No clue. It's not my decision."
- Week 17: Suh stepped on quarterback Aaron Rodgers' calf. Suh would receive a one game suspension. Suh appealed his suspension and arbitrator Ted Cottrell reversed the suspension, opting instead for a fine worth $70,000, raising Suh's career fine total to $286,875.
2015 Offseason
- 8, 2015: In his season-ending press conference, Mayhew said about Suh: "He wants to be here and we want him to be here. As I said before that's a pretty good combination, we'll see how it all turns out.'' Also, Mayhew would not rule out using the franchise tag and said, "He certainly is a big priority for us, he's an important part of our football team the last five years. I think the world of him, had an opportunity to sit down and talk with him on Monday and had a good conversation.''
- 1, 2015: Team president Tom Lewand appeared on WDIV's "Flashpoint" and said: "I think there's a very, very good chance that we can get something done with (Suh) in the next few weeks.''
- 18, 2015: Mayhew at the NFL Scouting Combine said: "It's not done, we're still working on it. Still very optimistic we'll be able to get it done. I think we have a lot of the essential elements that we need to get it done in that he's got a scheme he likes playing in, he's got a passion for the game as you guys know, he's got a head coach he likes playing for, he has teammates he likes playing with. We have a lot of things he wants in Detroit. Obviously we have a desire to get him signed. A lot of the important elements exist to get a contract done and we'll keep working on it.''
- March 2: Team announces several hours before the deadline that it will not use the franchise tag on Suh. It would have cost $26.8 million to tag him for one season. Contract talks continue.
- March 11: Ndamukong Suh signs a six-year deal worth $114 million, including $60 million in guarantees.
