Detroit Lions use franchise tag on Ziggy Ansah
By Zac Snyder
Rather than let him become an unrestricted free agent, the Detroit Lions have placed the franchise tag on defensive end Ziggy Ansah.
Ziggy Ansah has played out his rookie contract with the Detroit Lions, including the fifth-year option that comes with being a former first round draft pick. With his contract set to expire at the start of the new league year next month, Ansah was heading for unrestricted free agency and the Lions faced the possibility of losing their best defensive end.
With the pass rush already a concern, that was not a comfortable situation for the Lions. However, they did hold the power of the franchise tag to limit, if not eliminate, the risk of losing Ansah. Per a team announcement today, the Lions have exercised that power by designating Ansah their franchise player.
On the tag, Ansah will be due about $17.5 million for the 2018 season but this news does not rule out the possibility of Ansah and the Lions finding common ground on a multi-year contract. The deadline to reach a multi-year deal with a franchise player is July 16.
The window to designate a franchise player opened last week and runs through the afternoon of March 6. In that regard, there wasn’t any urgency for this decision to be announced today but this allows the Lions front office to move on to the NFL Combine later this week with at least one major decision out of the way.
Because the Combine often also serves as a negotiating ground for teams’ free agents, the Lions will enter, or continue, any talks with Ansah’s representatives with the leverage of the franchise tag already applied. Perhaps more importantly, it removes any doubt with other teams that Ansah may be in play on the free agent market. Albert Breer’s recent piece on The MMQB helps explain why that should be a concern.
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Ansah was regarded as a promising but raw prospect when the Lions drafted him fifth overall in 2012. His career has been up and down, mostly due to injury, but is otherwise a hit in a first round that was full of misses.