WEDNESDAY, 1:49pm: Ngata has passed his physical and is officially a Lion, says Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 3:36pm: Detroit will receive Ngata and a seventh-round pick while sending a fourth- and fifth-round pick to Baltimore, per Schefter (Twitter link).
2:55pm: The Lions have acquired defensive tackle Haloti Ngata from the Ravens, Baltimore announced via Twitter. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun was the first to report the news (Twitter link). Detroit is expected to send a fourth- or fifth- round pick to the Ravens, tweets Peter King of Sports Illustrated.
Baltimore has expressed optimism that it would be able to retain the 31-year-old Ngata via some sort of contract restructure involving either an extension or a pay reduction. He had been scheduled to carry a $16MM cap charge for 2015. Now that they’ve traded him, the Ravens will only be responsible for his prorated bonus money, which comes to $7.5MM.
In landing Ngata, the Lions have found their replacement for departed free agent Ndamukong Suh, who agreed to terms with the Dolphins over the weekend. Ngata is also reuniting with Teryl Austin, Detroit’s defensive coordinator, who previously coached in Baltimore. The Lions will assume Ngata’s base salary of $8.5MM for the upcoming season. The nine-year veteran has started 133 games in his career, accruing 25.5 sacks.
Former Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley is now a free agent, and it will interesting to see if Detroit’s move for Ngata will impact their pursuit of him.