Ndamukong Suh, Lions agree on five-year deal

Maybe Ndamukong Suh took Dominic Raiola's words to heart.

A few hours after Raiola told the media that he wanted to tell Suh, "Just sign the damn contract already," the No. 2 overall pick agreed to terms on a five-year deal and should be at practice today.

Details were worked out Tuesday night. Sources confirmed that Suh will earn a base salary of $60 million over the five years and could earn as much as $68 million, with $40 million guaranteed.

Suh wrote on his Twitter account Tuesday night, "Thanks to everyone that stuck by me and wished me the best. Looking forward to finally being in camp with my teammates!!!"

Suh will fly to Detroit from Nebraska this morning and is expected to participate in the afternoon (3:15) practice session.

The $40 million guarantee is less than 2009 first-round pick Matthew Stafford ($41.75M) got, but his was the largest guarantee on a five-year rookie contract in the history of the NFL.

First overall pick Sam Bradford got a $50 million guarantee over six years. No. 3 pick Gerald McCoy got a $35 million guarantee over five years. If you average the value of the guarantees, Bradford's is worth $8.3 million and Suh's is worth $8 million.

Suh's $40 million guarantee is also a 21.21 percent bump over the guarantee given to 2009 second overall pick Jason Smith over five years.

The Lions would not confirm the deal until Suh actually signed, which is expected to happen this morning.

For a rookie defensive tackle like Suh to command guaranteed money on par with quarterbacks is ground-breaking. In recent years, veteran defensive linemen Julius Peppers got a $42 million guarantee from the Bears and Albert Haynesworth got $41 million from the Redskins.

Sources close to the negotiations pointed out several factors that helped give Suh additional leverage. First, the Rams, who drafted Bradford, had a distinct need for a quarterback. Suh was considered the best player in the draft although he was taken second overall, and his agent Eugene Parker negotiated accordingly.

Also, the Lions used their drafting of Suh to help recruit Matthew Stafford free agent defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch. Certainly Parker felt that was worth an additional boost.

What worked against Suh, though, at least from a public relations perspective, were reports Parker was pushing for more guaranteed money than Bradford got from the Rams. Here's what happened on that:

Parker's initial asking price was a $50 million guarantee for Suh. That was made before Bradford signed. In truth, most felt that Bradford would command close to $55 million, which is why Parker asked for $50 million.

When Bradford signed for $50 million, Parker adjusted. But he still wanted Suh to get a deal close or better than Stafford's, which he did. Stafford's guaranteed money averages out to $7.6 million.

Suh's expected to return to practice, perhaps not coincidentally, on the first day the general public is allowed to watch practice. It's not a moment too soon. Another day of holding out might have put Suh at odds with his teammates.

On Monday coach Jim Schwartz expressed his frustration and Tuesday, after Suh missed his fourth day and sixth practice session, Raiola chimed in.

"I understand the business side of it but when you are talking in the $40 millions, you have to get your named signed already, right?" Raiola said. "He's the second overall pick. He needs to go ahead and tell his agent, 'Look, I want to sign and get into camp.'