LINCOLN — Don't look for Ndamukong Suh to be signing soon with the Detroit Lions, but agent Eugene Parker says that's more a statement on the process than the particulars involving the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL draft.
It might even be close to training camp before the former Nebraska defensive tackle has a completed contract.
“Typically what happens,” Parker said, “is when there's a sense of urgency by both parties, things get done.”
Suh is going through his second week of organized team activities with the Lions. Parker and Roosevelt Barnes of Maximum Sports Management, meanwhile, are setting the foundation for what will be a lucrative contract for the 2009 Associated Press national college player of the year.
The No. 2 pick in last year's draft, offensive tackle Jason Smith, signed a six-year, $61.775 million contract with St. Louis, which included $33 million guaranteed.
So what will Suh command? “We don't talk about any of that until the deal is done,” Parker said. “That's just the best way to go about it.
“We've had conversations. It would be safe to say the parties are communicating. We have had and we are having communications.”
Parker said there are elements to contracts that can be worked through in advance — “as far as structure, as far as language, as far as things that might be important to them that might not be a problem to us, and vice versa.”
“So you can at least open up some dialogue and get some of that stuff out of the way,” he said. “And sometimes these things take quick turns. Sometimes things seem like they're going along slowly, and then in a matter of hours you make substantial headway.”
Only about a dozen NFL picks have signed in the five weeks since the draft. No first-rounders have signed. Parker said the Suh camp isn't waiting to see what happens with No. 1 pick Sam Bradford, a quarterback taken by St. Louis, or No. 3 pick Gerald McCoy, a defensive tackle selected by Tampa Bay.
“I can't say the information isn't relevant, but we look at Ndamukong as his own person,” Parker said. “We do a deal based on him. You look at a lot of factors, so I can't say those would be irrelevant, but we're not necessarily waiting on them. They might be waiting on us.”
NFL rules require Suh to be signed before he can take part in training camp with Detroit, which opens July 31. He recently told the Detroit News that one reason he chose Barnes and Parker was that they understood he wanted to come into camp on time.
“I'm not a guy that likes to be a part of drama,” Suh said. “I definitely don't want to hold out.”
Barnes and Parker last year represented San Francisco first-round pick Michael Crabtree during a holdout that lasted until Oct. 7. But Parker said each negotiation is different, and you go in “prepared for anything and expecting the best.”
“The goal is to get him done, whatever it takes,” Parker said. “Get a fair deal for him and get him compensated based on his value. That's our focus. How tough or how easy, that's not even something we think about.”
The Lions have efficiently signed a pair of No. 2 picks in recent seasons, with Charles Rogers missing no time in 2003 and Calvin Johnson out for only a few days of training camp in 2007. They had No. 1 overall pick Matthew Stafford inked before the draft in 2009.
Suh already has spent some of his money: He announced at the Nebraska spring game last month that he was donating $2.6 million to the university — $2 million for the Huskers' strength program and $600,000 for NU's college of engineering to endow a scholarship.
Parker said the generous move by his client didn't surprise him.
“It's just consistent with who he is,” he said. “He's a special guy in a lot of ways. He wanted to give back to a school and a community that was an important part of his life.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
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