How the Lions swung the Haloti Ngata trade

PHOENIX – Martin Mayhew was leaving church the Sunday before free agency began when Tom Lewand texted to tell him Ndamukong Suh was signing with the Miami Dolphins.

Mayhew headed straight to the Detroit Lions' Allen Park headquarters, and when he got there Sheldon White, the team's pro personnel director, was waiting with a film cut-up of Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.

"He said, 'Hey, I got a cut-up of Ngata, let's go take a look at it,' cause we had been reading articles and things coming out of Baltimore he might be available," Mayhew said Monday at the owners meetings. "And so we went and looked at it, talked about it a little bit."

A day later, as free agency unfolded and several of the other available defensive tackles flew off the board, Mayhew said he called Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome to inquire about Ngata's available.

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"He said, 'Nah, I might keep him,'" Mayhew said. "He said he hadn't made a decision about what he wanted to do yet. And he called me on Tuesday and said he was available. I asked what his timetable was, he said, 'Whenever I get a good deal I'm going to take it.'"

A few hours later, Mayhew and Newsome agreed to a deal that sent Ngata, a five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, to the Lions as a capable Suh replacement, and fourth- and fifth-round draft picks Baltimore's way in return.

The Lions also got a seventh-round pick from the Ravens, who were determined to rid themselves of Ngata's $16-million cap hit after he they could not agree to a restructured deal.

Though Mayhew has long espoused the benefits of building through the draft, he said giving up two draft picks for a 31-year-old defensive tackle in the last year of his contract was an easy decision because of Ngata's ability as a player.

Ngata is a two-time all-pro and one of the best run-stoppers in the game, though he missed four games last year when he was suspended for using Adderall and tied a career-low with 31 tackles.

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"Draft picks are important. You don't ever want to give them up and we are trying to build this thing through the draft," Mayhew said. "But to be able to acquire a player like Haloti Ngata, when you look at what we had at defensive tackle at that time, losing our top three guys, or having our top three guys be free agents, and if you'd have told me we could have gotten Haloti Ngata, I'd have been ecstatic to be able to add him to our football team. So I thought it was worth it."

Ngata said at his introductory press conference that he's open to signing an extension with the Lions, and Mayhew said he hopes to get one done with Ngata, too.

"I think that's something that we'll talk about at some point," Mayhew said. "We know that that's something that we need to talk about with him at some point and we will."

Family affair : Lions owner Martha Ford is attending the owners meetings this week, her first time at the league's annual meetings. Ford, who traveled to most Lions' road games last year, stopped to exchange pleasantries with a group of Detroit reporters Monday before being ushered away by team personnel.

She has not talked publicly about the state of team since William Clay Ford's passing last year, and a team spokesperson

Bill Ford Jr., the Lions' vice chairman and a member of the league's broadcast committee, is not attending the meetings this week.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@davebirkett.