The Detroit Lions have opened training camp without Ndamukong Suh.
The Lions practiced Saturday afternoon while team officials and Suh’s representatives worked on reaching a contract agreement. The St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to terms with their draft choices, leaving Suh the only unsigned player picked in the top three.
With Suh missing this afternoon's practice, the new hope is to have him agreed to a deal by 9 a.m. tomorrow, which is when the next Lions practice is.
UPDATE: The AP article now includes this quote from Tom Lewand:
“I just got off the phone with those guys a minute ago,” Lions president Tom Lewand said soon after practice started. “We had an extended conversation and I’m sure we’ll have another one shortly. Both sides are focused on getting this done as quickly as possible.”
As Lewand went on to say later in the article, hopefully we can stop talking about contracts and start talking about football.