Because Detroit Lions management declined to take questions last week, it's unclear whether the team views defensive tackle Haloti Ngata as a one-year stopgap solution or are interested in signing the nine-year veteran to an extension.

Ngata, 31, acknowledged an interest in playing for Detroit beyond the one season remaining on his contract, but wasn't certain if it would work out.

But for the sake of argument, let's project what it might take to get a deal done, and the benefits of doing so for the Lions.

First, we've noted the Lions have less than $5 million in cap space when you factor in the estimated funds it will take to sign the team's upcoming draft class. That's plenty if Detroit is content with the roster it has, but if the team is looking to be active in the trade and secondary free-agency markets, it wouldn't hurt to clear a few million off the books in 2015.

Ngata is due $8.5 million this year. It's not guaranteed money, but cutting him before the season is only slightly less likely than the team releasing Calvin Johnson.

Talking to reporters after his introductory press conference, Ngata said he believes he has three good years left in the tank. We're going to construct a hypothetical package around that number.

It's an admittedly difficult contract to project, primarily because of Ngata's age. Although the circumstances are slightly different, a reasonably comparable deal might be the three-year, $26 million pact Julius Peppers inked with the Green Bay Packers last year.

We'll start by reducing Ngata's 2015 base salary to $4 million and pay the $4.5 million difference up front as a signing bonus. That money will be divided evenly over our projected extension. That would lower his cap hit this season to $5.5 million, giving the Lions $3 million in extra space.

In 2016 and 2017, we set Ngata's base salary at $6 million giving him cap hits of $7.5 million each year once you add the prorated portions of his bonus.

To convince Ngata's representation to sign the extension, you have to provide some additional guarantees beyond what he's already set to make in 2015. If the team guarantees half of the $6 million base salary in 2016, it creates a narrow enough gap between the cap hit and the dead money that it almost locks him into a roster spot.

And if by 2017, Ngata is still going strong, another $7.5 million hit might be viewed as reasonable when weighed against a rapidly rising cap.

On the other hand, if the skills have noticeably declined, the team can part ways with Ngata and be on the hook for just the $1.5 million in dead money. That's less than one percent of the projected cap.

Here's a table to give you a clearer view of the deal explained above.

Year Base Bonus Cap Hit Dead Money 2015 $4,000,000 $1,500,000 $5,500,000 $11,500,000 2016 $6,000,000 (half guaranteed) $1,500,000 $7,500,000 $6,000,000 2017 $6,000,000 $1,500,000 $7,500,000 $1,500,000

Again, we don't know if the Lions are even interested. It's entirely possible Ngata is here for just one season, to help ease the loss of Ndamukong Suh, both on the field and in the public relations battle.

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