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The Lions have decided to trade George Johnson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rather than try to meet the terms of their offer sheet.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

The Detroit Lions have decided to trade George Johnson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rather than try to meet the terms of their offer sheet, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The teams will swap late-round picks to complete the deal.

It is not clear yet which picks are getting swapped, and the trade is still pending league approval.

Johnson was a restricted free agent who the Lions elected to tender at the original-round level. That exposed them to the possibility of losing their top reserve defensive end without getting any compensation in return.

Tampa Bay ended up offering Johnson a three-year, $9 million deal, and the Lions had until 4 p.m. Monday to match those terms. They decided to dispute the deal instead.

That sent the case to an independent arbitrator, who had 10 days to declare the terms Detroit would have to meet. The trade makes all that a moot point.

Detroit has lost Johnson, but did end up getting something in return.

Johnson was signed as a practice body last offseason, but worked his way onto the roster by making play after play, day after day. He eventually became the top man off the bench and finished with six sacks. He didn't have any sacks in his first four seasons in the league.

Detroit returns starting defensive ends Ezekiel Ansah and Jason Jones next season. That leaves Devin Taylor, Darryl Tapp and Larry Webster vying for Johnson's reserve spot pending any possible additions in the draft.

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