Detroit Lions: Ziggy Ansah expected to sign franchise tag Tuesday

The Detroit Lions premier pass rusher, defensive end Ziggy Ansah, is expected to sign his franchise tag on Tuesday and start offseason conditioning.

Shortly after the hiring of former New England Patroits defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as the Detroit Lions new head coach this offseason, the longtime Bill Belichick protégé was faced with his first big decision. That being whether or not to re-sign the team’s premier pass rusher, pending free agent defensive end Ziggy Ansah.

The 28-year old defender is coming off an injury-plagued season in which he was still able to post 12.0 sacks in 14 games. Unfortunately, Ansah recorded 9.0 of those sacks in three games and his play in the other contests was fairly inconsistent.

But under Patricia, perhaps Ziggy could regain the form that led him to his first and only Pro Bowl in 2015, when he recorded a career-high 14.5 sacks and was considered one of the best, young pass rushers in the NFL.

Ultimately, Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn opted to use the the Lions’ franchise tag to retain Ansah for another season. They did so at the cost of $17.143 million.

Now, the sixth-year veteran is expected to return from a trip to his homeland, Ghana, on Monday and should arrive at the Lions’ facilities on Tuesday to sign his tag. Ansah is expected to start offseason training afterwards. Detroit started voluntary workouts last week, but Ziggy had to attend to some family matters in Ghana instead.

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This is a big year for Ziggy Ansah in Detroit. Playing on a one-year deal, and turning 30-years old in 2019, Ansah’s future with the Lions lays in the balance. It is unclear if Detroit will be willing to sign the aging pass rusher to a long-term extension post-2018.