Defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley present differing contract situations for the Detroit Lions in the next few months.

First, Suh. General manager Martin Mayhew has said both sides are interested in a contract extension. 

Suh’s salary cap hit in 2014 is more than $22 million. An extension would give the Lions more salary cap space.

That’s not news. The whole situation is now complicated because Suh has fired his agents Eugene Parker and Roosevelt Barnes, according to ProFootballTalk.com.

He can’t hire a new agent for five days from the time the agents receive his letter, due to union rules. 

This could make him one of the more popular players this weekend at the Pro Bowl with agents swarming about everywhere.

It could also slow down the contract extension process. 

Fairley, a first-round pick in 2011, will be in the fourth year of his rookie contract in 2014. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the team must decide whether to exercise the fifth-year contract option on first-round picks before May, according to a Lions web site story.

Fairley’s had an inconsistent career so far. He’s amazing at times, not so much at others. He played a career-high 15 games this season with a half-dozen sacks, also a career high. He also had two forced fumbles and two fumbles recovered.

Mayhew told reporters at the Senior Bowl he was good with Fairley’s weight of 320 last season, but said he could “re-position” some of that weight. Perhaps that has something to do with all the weight Fairley carries in his belly. (Remember when he chest/belly bumped Suh and knocked him to the ground?)

Fairley originally signed a four-year $9.889 million deal in 2011. He will make $1,723,500 in 2014.

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