Haloti Ngata Traded to Lions: Twitter Reacts to Blockbuster Move

The Detroit Lions needed to figure out what they were going to do at the defensive tackle spot with the expected loss of Ndamukong Suh, so they decided to acquire Haloti Ngata from Baltimore. 

The deal was officially announced by the Ravens on Twitter:

According to NFL Network's Albert Breer, there are also draft picks being swapped by both teams:

There had been uncertainty about Ngata's future in Baltimore, as he reportedly didn't want to restructure his contract which left the cap-straddled Ravens with a $16 million cap hit for a 31-year-old defensive tackle. 

As NFL.com's Bucky Brooks said, the Lions should be commended for making this deal happen, considering what they were facing with the loss of Suh:

Speaking of the system, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports did note that Ngata will be reunited with someone he knows very well:

Even though this weekend of reported free-agent deals was crazy, nothing compared to the minutes before the new league year started at 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday. As Chris Fedor of 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland noted, it involved two marquee players and four teams that have been in the playoffs at least once in the last two years:

To put things another way, NFL Network's Rich Eisen offered this summation on Twitter:

Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette credited the Ravens' ability to make this trade to their consistently sound drafting: 

As far as what the Lions are getting in Ngata, even though he may not be Suh, this is one of the best and most consistent interior linemen in the NFL. Pro Football Focus has the numbers to back it up:

No one knows Ngata better than Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome, who told the team's website after the deal was announced that there's also a leadership quality that can't be taught:

There are some questions that need to be asked. First and foremost, what is the Lions' plan on defense? Ngata has played in a 3-4 scheme with the Ravens and excelled in it for a long time. Detroit and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin run out of the 4-3 base. 

However, there's no way the Lions would have made this deal if they didn't believe Ngata could make the adjustment or if they weren't prepared to make adjustments on their end. The bottom line is Detroit got exactly what it needed and saved nearly $11 million against the cap compared to what it would have cost to put the franchise tag on Suh.