FanPost

Contract $$ Amounts -- What should Suh get?

I was curious what kind of contract to expect for Suh, so I looked up some numbers for comparison's sake of the #1 - #3 picks this year compared to last year.

Note: All of these contract $$ numbers are from Wikipedia, and don't take into account some of the crazy complexities of NFL contracts, which almost nobody except player agents and NFL lawyers probably understand. Anyone who knows more than I do (which is very little) about NFL contracts, please help sort this out...


MAX CONTRACT VALUE

#1 2009 Stafford $13 mil/yr ($78 mil / 6 years)
#1 2010 Bradford $14.3 mil/yr ($86 mil / 6 years)

-> 10.2% increase


#2 2009 Jason Smith $10.16 mil/yr ($61 mil / 6 years)
#2 2010 Ndamukong Suh ? ? ?

-> ?? % increase


#3 2009 Tyson Jackson $11.4 mil/yr ($57 mil / 5 years)
#3 2010 Gerald McCoy $12.6 mil/yr ($63 mil / 5 years)

-> 10.5% increase



GUARANTEED AMOUNT

#1 2009 Stafford $6.95 mil/yr ($41.7 mil / 6 years)
#1 2010 Bradford $8.33 mil/yr ($50 mil / 6 years)

-> 19.9% increase


#2 2009 Jason Smith $5.5 mil/yr ($33 mil / 6 years)
#2 2010 Ndamukong Suh ? ? ?

-> ?? % increase


#3 2009 Tyson Jackson $6.2 mil/yr ($31 mil / 5 years)
#3 2010 Gerald McCoy $7 mil/yr ($35 mil / 5 years)

-> 12.9% increase

...

Notice that both the #1 and the #3 got about a 10% increase from 2009 to 2010 in total value. However, also notice that the #3 got only a 12.9% increase, while the #1 got a 19.9% increase in guaranteed money.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and attribute some of that increase disparity to positional value. Tyson Jackson is a Defensive End, a position that carries more value than a Defensive Tackle. Stafford and Bradford obviously play the same position, so it's easier to make an apples-apples comparison.

This may be important, I believe, because last year's #2, Jason Smith, was a Left Tackle, arguably the second most important position in football.

So, suppose Suh gets a 12.9% increase over Jason Smith, like McCoy got over Tyson Jackson in the guaranteed portion. Also suppose Suh gets a 10% increase in total possibile money.

For a six-year contract, at a 10% increase over last year's #2 in total money, and a 12.9% increase in guaranteed money, Suh would get $67.1 million with $37.26 million guaranteed.

The problem here, is that 37.26 million over 6 years gives Suh $6.2 million per year, which is $0.8 million LESS than Gerald McCoy is getting. Gerald McCoy, on a five-year deal, is getting $35 million guaranteed, or $7 million per year.

Matthew Stafford is getting just under $6.95 million/year guaranteed ($41.7 mil / 6 years).

Ignore Sam Bradford for a moment. Gerald McCoy is getting more guaranteed money per year than Matthew Stafford. This could be the problem (or at least one of them) getting Suh signed to the Lions.

So, if you were Lewand, what would you offer Suh:

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pride Of Detroit or its writers.