Here's the prevailing wisdom in Detroit, from an article in the Free Press:
"His [Suh's] presence tilts the field in a way that's hard to measure, and surely why the Lions brass strongly considered spending nearly $27 million to keep him for another year. They understand what they have in him.
They also know they have to do what it takes to sign him. Pay him what he wants. The Lions aren't building for the future. They are building for September, and that means finding a way to keep your best player."
This is the difference between the Lions and the Packers. They put themselves in this predicament by structuring Suh's last re-structuring so if he went to FA and the Lions tagged him they'd have to pay him 20% above the franchise for the year. Thus the 26 mill number.
They've also restructured Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford, pushing money into the future over and over. So those two are huge cap hits, and re-signing Suh would mean zero flexibility anywhere on the roster.