Lions hoping Ndamukong Suh 'comes to his senses'

The Miami Dolphins appear set to sign free agent defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to a six-year, $114 million contract when free agency officially begins on Tuesday. While nothing can be declared as official during the league's "legal tampering" period, where negotiations can occur but contracts cannot be signed, the Suh sweepstakes does appear to be complete, with the Dolphins winning.

Unless you are a member of the Detroit Lions' staff, that is. Detroit, who drafted Suh with the second-overall pick in 2010, have been trying to keep Suh, offering him a contract that, reportedly, would have paid him $17 million per season with $58 million guaranteed. According to ESPN's Josina Anderson, there is still some hope within the Lions' organization that Suh will return. Anderson reports a Lions source has told her:

"[The Miami Dolphins & Ndamukong Suh] can't finalize until Tuesday. We will hope he comes to his senses. [The] key is playing for coach [Jim] Caldwell and Teryl [Austin]. Plus good players around him. Can't get that there..."

Apparently the source does not feel like Cameron Wake, Randy Starks, Earl Mitchell, Olivier Vernon, Brent Grimes, and Reshad Jones are good players to play around Suh. The argument that Caldwell and Austin are better coaches than Miami head coach Joe Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle can be made, but it seems like the Lions source is likely holding on to hope for something that is not going to happen.

(And, as far as I am concerned, Suh's senses seem to be firmly in his control.)