Ndamukong Suh‘s presence on the Lions’ roster comes with a hefty price tag of $22.4MM, which gives the team almost no flexibility to do anything else in free agency, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News. In fact, he notes that even with the extra $11.5MM the team saved by releasing Louis Delmas and Nate Burleson, the Lions do not have enough cap space to sign all of the team’s prospective draft picks this May.

This is a huge problem for the Lions, but it is not unprecedented for the team. This current roster was built with cornerstone draft picks from the old CBA. With the team holding high draft choices, their top picks were able to negotiate big money contracts that could cripple an organization’s cap flexibility. The Lions were able to proceed smoothly in negotiating Calvin Johnson‘s contract extension, which made him the highest paid receiver in football, deservingly so. Then when Matthew Stafford approached the end of his rookie deal, his extension was negotiated in a similar manner.

Suh is the third piece to the puzzle, and McCosky writes that Lions president Tom Lewand would like to come to an agreement on another long-term contract to keep a top player in the mix for the long haul. Of course, Suh has just recently fired his agent, instead electing to join Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports. Publicly, it is still unknown who will be negotiating his contract. Roc Nation has only one agent certified to negotiate a contract, and that agent’s only client is the Jets’ quarterback Geno Smith. Victor Cruz‘ brand is represented by Roc Nation, but his contract is handled by veteran agent Tom Condon.

McCoskey notes that Suh holds all the cards in this negotiation, because his mammoth extension is inevitable at this point. He will be the most highly paid defensive tackle in football. It is up to him whether or not he will work with the Lions and get the deal hammered out in the coming weeks, allowing the team to use the extra cap space cleared up this season to fill holes elsewhere on the roster and put together a team that can return to the playoffs in 2014.

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was a behavioral problem in the locker room, the NFL Network’s Heath Evans tells 105.1 Detroit (audio link). Evans claims several Lions players told him Suh was uncoachable and disrespectful towards the coaching staff. “The consistent message that came out of there is that Suh was uncontrollable and that he would constantly do things to kind of show his power over Jim Schwartz, whether it was team meetings, showing up late, or whatever it may be.” The Lions have disputed the assertions, releasing a statement by Schwartz, who says “Ndamukong Suh was not late for any team meeting, practice or team travel in any of our four years together with the Lions.”

This news is relevant as Suh and the Lions prepare to engage in extension discussions. Suh, who recently fired his agent, is set to count an enormous $22.4MM against the cap in 2014, so the Lions have an obvious need to restructure his contract. Suh, who is under contract for two more seasons, already restructured once last year, allowing the Lions to save about $8MM. If an extension cannot be worked out, the franchise tag would not seem to be an option, as it would cost the Lions nearly $27MM.

The longer the contract talks go on, the more likely it is that Suh will test the free agent market, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. The Lions would prefer any new deal to come together before free agency begins in March, in order to alleviate their cap strain. For comparison, Geno Atkins of the Bengals recently got $15MM guaranteed on a five-year contract. Suh, who rated as the second-best defensive tackle according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), would likely command more.