The second franchise tag of the 2018 offseason is in place.
The Lions announced on Tuesday that they will use their franchise tag on defensive end Ziggy Ansah. The Dolphins became the first team to use the tag when they placed it on wide receiver Jarvis Landry.
Ansah was the fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft and has been a piece of the Lions pass rush since his arrival in Detroit. He rebounded from a two-sack season in 2016 with 12 sacks during the 2017 season and has 44 sacks over the course of his NFL career. The team is short on other players with that kind of impact in the passing game, which likely made it an easy choice to designate Ansah as their franchise player.
The value for the tag will be north of $17 million and the two sides will have until July 16 -- July 15 is a Sunday, which pushes the typical deadline back a day -- to work on a longer deal before a one-year pact will be Ansah’s only option for the 2018 season.