Detroit Lions Replace Ndamukong Suh at a Huge Cost with Trade for Haloti Ngata

The Detroit Lions had a huge hole to fill with the impending departure of Ndamukong Suh, and they found a huge player to replace him. 

In a move Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun first reported, the Lions sent a fourth- and fifth-round draft pick to Baltimore for Ngata and a seventh-round pick. Ngata, 31, was set to cost the Ravens $16 million against their cap this season, per The Sun, and there had been plenty of speculation that he would be a cap casualty because of that. 

Now, the Ravens get mid-round picks for a player they were thinking about cutting. 

Detroit gets an immense talent at defensive tackle.

Lions safety Glover Quin told Dave Birkett at the Detroit Free Press: 

"

I think it was a great pick up. Obviously, he's a great player in this league. He's done some great things. He won a Super Bowl. He's huge for us in the middle of the d-line. He's familiar with Coach Austin and his system and Coach Caldwell as well. I think he'll come in and fit right with our defense and what we're doing.

"

Despite how well Ngata may fit in, the holes on the D-line are a problem the Lions created for themselves. Kicking the can down the road on massive dollars owed Suh made the franchise tag a veritable impossibility. Fully knowing that, they also passed on the ability to keep Nick Fairley around for another year and signed C.J. Mosley to a deal that had him hitting the market at exactly the same time—this offseason. 

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Thanks to the Lions front office, Suh will now likely cash a massive paycheck with the Miami Dolphins while they scramble to keep their defense together—a defense that ranked second overall last season (and first against the rush) but will look entirely different moving forward. 

Suh is a singular talent and will not be easily replaced. 

Last season, Ngata moved to defensive end to make room for Brandon Williams at nose tackle and also served a four-game suspension for violating the league's performance-enhancing substance policy. Still, he ranked as Pro Football Focus' No. 9 defensive end. 

The last time Ngata played inside, PFF ranked him as the No. 19 DT/NT in 2013. 

Suh has been in the top five since 2012. 

Let's underscore the obvious one more time: Ngata will not entirely replace Suh's impact on the game. Many in the Lions front office and on the coaching staff will likely try to convince themselves it will be so (especially those with Baltimore ties), and the fanbase won't be any different, but this is a fading player riding out the final year of his last big contract. 

That said, Ngata still brings a lot to the table. 

He still moves well at 31, which is impressive for a man hovering around 340 pounds. Like Suh, he's a well-rounded player, being equally adept against both the run and pass. And he makes fewer mistakes in overpenetrating than Suh, which makes up for the fact he doesn't have Suh's athleticism.

The Lions may also use him in more of a rotation than they used Suh, as Ngata played far better for the Ravens while playing fewer snaps in 2014. 

He also replaces Suh as a leader on their defense and in their locker room as a whole. Though Suh never had the best reputation with fans and media on a national basis, he was a strong voice and leader for the Lions. 

With Ngata in the fold, they will not face a vacuum in that regard. 

Nick Wass/Associated Press

The question, then, is whether Ngata's addition is too little too late, and whether this is simply an overreaction to losing Suh and potentially losing Fairley and Mosley. 

Pending a potential restructure of his contract, Ngata will earn $8.5 million this season. That's a big number for someone whose best years are absolutely behind him. In addition to the cap space, the Lions are also out two mid-round picks that they certainly could've used to add talent at a number of other positions.

To put it another way, the Lions are doubling down on the defensive tackle position after mismanaging the roster so poorly that they forced their own hand. This is a huge cost to the team and makes it look like the Lions scrambling to cover their behinds rather than being nimble and adept in putting together what could potentially be a playoff contender.

Michael Schottey is an award-winning NFL National Lead Writer for Bleacher Report and a writer for Football Insiders. Follow him on Twitter.