The Detroit Lions are re-signing veteran defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, his agent said, bolstering the middle of their defensive line.
Financial terms of the two-year deal were not known, but Ngata is the second player the Lions have re-signed in the past few days. He joins fellow defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker, who re-signed Friday, as potential starters on the interior of the defensive line.
Ngata has been one of the better interior defensive linemen in the NFL over the past decade. He's made five Pro Bowls, has been named first-team All-Pro twice and has helped the Baltimore Ravens win Super Bowl XLVII.
The former first-round pick out of Oregon spent the first nine seasons of his career with Baltimore, turning into a dominant force in the middle of John Harbaugh's defense. The Ravens traded him to the Lions minutes before free agency began in March 2015, after Detroit needed to find a replacement for Ndamukong Suh.
Detroit gave up two midround picks for Ngata in the hopes of solidifying the middle of the line. Then Ngata missed the majority of training camp and struggled early in the 2015 season. He also missed two games because of injury.
He played better in the second half of the season, showing more flashes of the force he was with the Ravens. He finished with 24 tackles and 2.5 sacks -- 14 tackles coming in the second half of the season. In all, the 32-year-old has played in 149 games, making 470 tackles with 28 sacks, six forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries and five interceptions.
Ngata and Walker join Caraun Reid and Gabe Wright as defensive tackles on Detroit's roster for the 2016 season. While the Walker and Ngata signings likely mean the franchise won't look at defensive tackles early in free agency, the franchise is expected to address the position early in the draft.