Four franchise-tagged players have yet to reach long-term deals before Monday’s deadline. One of them definitely won’t, #asexpected.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the Lions and defensive end Ziggy Ansah won’t be striking a multi-year contract. This means that Ansah, a first-round pick in 2013, will spend a sixth season with the Lions, at a franchise tender of $17.143 million.
G.M. Bob Quinn told PFT Live in March that the Lions weren’t likely to sign Ansah to a long-term contract, opting instead to give new coach Matt Patricia a chance to evaluate Ansah before making a decision about the future. If the Lions choose to keep Ansah under the tag in 2019, he’ll be entitled to a 20-percent raise over his 2018 salary, which equates to $20.57 million.
Ansah has been an up-and-down performer for the Lions. He followed a career-high 14.5 sacks in 2015 with only 2.0 in 2016; injuries limited his effectiveness that year, even though he missed only three games. In 2017, he rebounded with 12.0 sacks in 14 games.