Ravens Lock Up Haloti Ngata With Five-Year Deal

Financial details of the deal weren’t disclosed. Haloti was playing under the franchise tag which guaranteed him more than $12 million 2011 alone so while it’s a five-year deal, it’s really a four-year extension. He’s under contract through 2015.

The two sides had until Tuesday afternoon to sign a long-term deal or signing a new deal had to be tabled until the end of the season.

Aaron Wilson of the Carroll County Times reports the two sides were on the verge of “striking a blockbuster deal”.

Whatever the price tag is, it will likely be worth it. He’s turned into a star after the Ravens drafted him with the 12th pick of the 2006 NFL draft. At 27 years old, Ngata has several quality years left in him barring injury and the Ravens are wise to lock him up.

DT Haloti Ngata won’t be leaving Baltimore anytime soon. The Ravens announced they’ve applied the franchise tag to the defensive tackle. The franchise tag number in 2011 for defensive tackles is expected to be over $12 million (thanks, Albert Haynesworth).

This is one of the least surprising moves the Ravens have made. It was reported last week that the Ravens would “no doubt” issue the franchise tag to Ngata. Both sides are expected to work on a long-term contract extension once a new CBA is in place, according to the Ravens release.

Some teams have been avoiding long-term contracts because of the CBA uncertainty -- the deal expires on March 4 -- while others have gone ahead and worked around it. The Ravens, with such a large deal waiting for Ngata, would obviously prefer to understand all the tweaks with a new CBA before committing the money to Ngata.

This is a relatively easy situation for both sides because clearly they both want to get something done. The Ravens are using the franchise tag for what it was meant for -- buying some time to workout a long-term deal.