Ngata, Ravens react to defensive tackle's new deal

Ravens All-Pro defensive tackle

Haloti Ngata

received some playful ribbing from teammates a day after he signed a five-year, $61 million deal.

“Nobody asked me for a loan, they just asked me to give them money,” Ngata said. “There’s no loan in it.”

All joking aside, the news of Ngata’s extension was well received by his teammates.”

"It's kind of weird because there are a lot of guys that deserve new deals,” said Ravens linebacker

Jarret Johnson

. “The Ravens very rarely re-up guys early, and as the process went on we kept up with it, asking how things are going. And it was weird because while we usually have no interest in another guy's contract, we're all there fighting for him, like, 'Pay him' and 'Take care of our boy.' And then yesterday when we got the news, everyone was all fired up. We got him this morning and everyone was all excited. It's funny. It's an individual contract between you and your agent, but it was kind of like a team thing because that's how big he is to the organization.”

Added linebacker

Terrell Suggs

: “There’s very few players in the NFL that can be considered a Raven, and the ones that they think are Ravens, they keep here. Haloti’s one, myself,

Ed Reed

,

Ray [Lewis

],

Marshal [Yanda

]. They do a good job of keeping Ravens guys with that Ravens identity here.”

Ngata’s pact, which he called humbling and a relief, led to the expected questions of what Raven is next in line for an extension. All-Pro running back

Ray Rice's

deal expires after this season. Quarterback

Joe Flacco's

expires after the 2012 campaign.

“I think everybody knew what the food chain is, what the priorities of what we’re trying to get done is,” said Lewis. “I think Joe and Ray know what’s coming up next for them.”

For their part, Rice and Flacco applauded the Ngata deal and said they’re focusing on football.

“I firmly believe that I’m going to be here for a while,” Rice said. “I really try not to worry about that kind of stuff obviously during the season.  I got the great guy, my agent, and the organization will definitely take care of that whether it’s right now or after the season. My job right now is to play football. It’s something you put small thought into during training camp, you think it, you think about your options. But with the weird offseason, you’re kind of not having that time to get everything together. But as with me right now, we’re 1-1 and I have to focus on the Rams and playing good football the rest of the way to help my team, put us in a winning position.”

Flacco said, “It really does not matter. It’s great for Haloti to get a great deal. Hopefully, in [the] future, all of us are going to get a new deal. I don’t think going ahead in this season, it doesn’t mean anything and I’m not going to think about it. I’m just glad for Haloti right now and I’m not going to think about myself.”