What Could Ndamukong Suh's New Contract Look Like?

At some point during the next week, Ndamukong Suh will be signing on the dotted line of the richest contract ever given to a defensive player in the NFL. 

The deal will either come from the Detroit Lions—who drafted Suh No. 2 overall back in 2010 and remain intent on keeping him—or any number of teams prepared to take upwards of $40 million in cap space into the start of free agency next Tuesday. 

It's a perfect whirlwind of leverage for Suh, a four-time All-Pro in the prime of his career who is entering an open market flush with cash. Add a young, dominant player, toss in a big pinch of cap space and finish it off with a likely bidding war on the open market, and you get a perfect recipe for a contract worthy of a quarterback.

But just what exactly will such a contract look like when it's all said and done? 

Before that question is answered, context is required on the deals he's about to eclipse. 

The two highest paid defensive players in the NFL currently are J.J. Watt of the Houston Texans and Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, both of whom signed new contracts in 2014.

Last September, Watt agreed to a six-year, $100 million deal with $51.9 million guaranteed. His average salary in Houston is $16.7 million. 

Here is how his contract is structured, per Spotrac:

Year	Base	Signing Bous	Cap Hit	Dead Cap
2014	$907K	$3.37M	$4.58M	$32.55M
2015	$9.97M	$2.0M	$21.97M	$27.97M
2016	$10.5M	$2.0M	$12.5M	$6.0M
2017	$10.5M	$2.0M	$12.5M	$4.0M
2018	$11.0M	$2.0M	$13M	$2.0M
2019	$13.0M	-	$13M	-
2020	$15.5M	-	$15.5M	-
2021	$17.5M	-	$17.5M	-

Watt's $10 million signing bonus is amortized over the contract's first five years, with $1.68 million transferring over to 2014 from his original rookie deal. Also, $30 million of the $51.9 million was guaranteed on signing, with another $21 million guaranteeing by the fifth day of the 2016 league year. 

Two months after Watt's deal, McCoy became the NFL's highest paid defensive tackle when he inked a six-year, $95.2 million deal with $51.5 million guaranteed. His average salary is $15.9 million. 

And here is how his deal is structured, per Spotrac: 

Year	Base	Signing/Roster Bonus	Cap Hit	Dead Cap
2014	$17.5M	$1.1M	$21.3M	$20.3M
2015	$5.0M	$7.6M	$14.6M	$22.1M
2016	$6.0M	$7.0M	$13M	$1.5M
2017	$13.3M	$500K	$13.8M	$1.0M
2018	$12.3M	$500K	$12.8M	$500K
2019	$13.0M	-	$13.0M	-
2020	$10.0M	-	$12.5M	-
2021	$10.4M	-	$12.9M	-

The Bucs only gave McCoy a $2.5 million signing bonus, and only $14.8 million of the $51.5 million was guaranteed right away. Instead, Tampa Bay employed roster bonuses, in the form of $6.5 million sums guaranteeing on the third league day in both 2015 and 2016, and $2.5 million payouts on the third league day in 2020 and 2021. Essentially, the Bucs could be off the hook for a majority of the deal if McCoy is released before the third day of 2016. 

Suh's deal could be structured a number of ways, but there's little doubt he will make more in average salary and take home a bigger sum of guarantees than both Watt and McCoy. 

It's important to remember that Watt and McCoy both signed extensions during the season, without the driving force of the open market. They rewrote the starting line for Suh, but he is about to race past them both with a bidding war doing most of the pushing. 

According to the NFL Players Association, six teams—the Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders and Tennessee Titans—possess over $40 million in cap room. Another seven clubs have at least $25 million. A bump of the salary cap to $143.2 million has created a number of potential suitors for the top free agents. 

A realistic floor for Suh's negotiations is probably six years, $102 million and $52 million guaranteed, with roughly $15 million in the form of a signing bonus. It would inch him just past Watt for the richest defensive contract ever signed.

Here's how such a deal might look, without all the bells and whistles of roster bonuses, escalators and placed guarantees:  

Year	Base	Signing Bonus	Cap Hit
2015	$12.0M	$3.0M	$15.0M
2016	$15.0M	$3.0M	$18.0M
2017	$19.0M	$3.0M	$22.0M
2018	$15.0M	$3.0M	$18.0M
2019	$14.0M	$3.0M	$17.0M
2020	$12.0M	-	$12.0M

This deal is structured to provide Suh with $55 million over the first three years of the deal, which are typically considered the most important. 

It's also not crazy to think the open market could drive Suh's contract much higher, in terms of overall value, guaranteed money and signing bonus. 

"It could become elite quarterback money if he got three teams that are serious bidders," former agent Joel Corry told Josh Katzenstein of The Detroit News. "Because if he's got three teams that want him that badly, Jimmy Sexton — if he wants to — can leverage this thing into an outrageous number."

Let's say Sexton works his leverage magic and squeezes every last penny out of the flooded market. It's not inconceivable that the end result could be a six-year deal worth $120 million, or $20 million per season. The contract might come with $60 million in guarantees and a $20 million signing bonus.

Again, we're talking in hypotheticals. A deal worth $20 million is a ridiculously steep price to pay for a defensive tackle. But Suh is a special player and teams have cash to burn, plus leverage can be a powerful tool. Remember, there was once a time when Reggie White cracked into the quarterback salary structure. 

Here is how such a megadeal might look, again without all the tinkering contracts usually contain:

Year	Base	Signing Bonus	Cap Hit
2014	$15.0M	$4.0M	$19.0M
2015	$18.0M	$4.0M	$22.0M
2016	$22.0M	$4.0M	$26.0M
2017	$18.0M	$4.0M	$22.0M
2018	$14.0M	$4.0M	$18.0M
2019	$13.0M	-	$13.0M

Some teams prefer to front-load deals. Suh would make a whopping $67 million over the first three years of this particular set up. 

No deal is going to be this straight forward. Teams will want to use roster bonuses and offset guarantees to work Suh and his incoming salary hit into the cap. When this amount of money is being agreed upon, there's no shortage of safeguards and assurances—both for the player and team. 

This exercise wasn't intended to correctly predict Suh's contract numbers or structure. Both are impossible to pinpoint without being in the room with Suh, Sexton and the teams. However, it does provide a baseline look at just how much money—in terms of total value and guaranteed money—Suh will likely require to sign. 

He's working with the perfect concoction of player value, team demand and available cash. Prepare to be blown away by the deal Suh eventually agrees to at some juncture in the next week. 

Zach Kruse covers the NFC North for Bleacher Report. 

Follow @zachkruse2