The Lions were able to use that pick to draft Best

 "Every running back has a highlight reel -- some a play or two, some 10 plays," Schwartz said Sunday in between Lions practices. "But there was nothing like that steady stream of highlights that [Best] put on tape."

What Best could do was just what the Lions lacked. Last season, Detroit ranked second in the NFL on runs of 4-plus yards, but they ranked dead last on runs of 20-plus yards. So Schwartz headed into the draft knowing the Lions would land defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, but praying they could find a way to get Best.

Schwartz sweated out most of the first round, tried to finagle his way back into it later on, and eventually traded up to the 30th overall pick. The Lions were able to use that pick to draft Best, who had fallen in the draft because of the concussion concerns some teams had about him.

Just like that, the Lions had the player Schwartz had been studying since November, the type of home run hitter that Tennessee got when it drafted Chris Johnson when Schwartz was the Titans' defensive coordinator, and the most dynamic running back in Detroit since Barry Sanders.

"He filled a spot on our team that we were lacking," Schwartz said.

From his days as a defensive coordinator, Schwartz knew defenses could always take one offensive weapon out of a game. The problem came when there were two.

Now Schwartz believes the Lions have two weapons -- Best and wide receiver Calvin Johnson -- to go along with the improvements they've made at tight end with Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler and at wide receiver with Nate Burleson and Bryant Johnson. Schwartz's man-crush on Best has not subsided. He is enamored with how Best catches the ball, not just out of the backfield, but 30 yards downfield. He is fully aware of the 8.1 yards per carry Best averaged in his sophomore season and his 7.3 career average at California. And he raves about Best's speed, which enabled him to run a faster 40-yard dash at the combine than the Bills' C.J. Spiller (the ninth overall pick) and win the California Interscholastic Federation 100-meter state championship as a high school senior.

Ndamukong Suh missed his first Lions practice Saturday because his agents believed that simply being insanely rich wasn't good enough for an NFL rookie who hasn't proved one thing. They want more. They want the Lions' front office stuffed and mounted onto their wall as advertising for prospective future clients.

Any new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL owners and the players Matthew Stafford must obliterate this nonsense.

It wasn't that long ago when many generally sided with the player in these stalemates. Get whatever you could in that first contract because even the brightest of NFL futures is always one blown knee away from going dark.

But it's now more about agents fattening their résumés by creating an inflated rookie wage scale that inexplicably must jump salaries among the top draft picks around 20% each year.

The unsigned now are scorned, used as ammunition in the fight for a more sensible rookie Matthew Stafford salary slotting system in the NFL's next collective bargaining agreement.

The Lions hope that Suh's NFL legacy becomes more than being one of the last holdouts before fiscal sanity arrives in another year.

They were understandably disappointed that Suh didn't stick to his word that he would definitely be in Allen Park for the start of training camp.

They're hopeful that his absence will last no more than a few days, as it was with Calvin Johnson in 2007.

"It is a process that takes some time and it takes both parties having a meeting of the minds," said Lions president Tom Lewand. "It's always our goal to have them here as early as possible, and I think our track record suggests the importance we place on that has been realized in most cases. Our goal is to stop talking about contracts and start talking about football."

St. Louis signed quarterback Sam Bradford, the first overall selection, to a six-year deal guaranteeing the former Heisman Trophy winner $50 million. Tampa Bay inked a five-year deal with No. 3 overall pick defensive tackle Gerald McCoy that includes $35 million in guarantees.