BYU Football: Former Cougar Ezekiel Ansah signs franchise tag with Lions

Former Cougar football standout Ziggy Ansah has signed his franchise tag, making him the highest-paid defensive end in the NFL.

Ziggy is about to get paid.

Former BYU football standout Ezekiel Ansah signed his franchise tag today, according to Marc Sessler.

The Detroit Lions placed their franchise tag on Ansah on February 28th, and today’s signing ensures that the former Cougar will remain a Lion for the 2018 season.

For more information on how the NFL’s franchise tag works, see this article.

With the tag, Ziggy will make $17.14 million in 2018, which ties him with Dallas’ DeMarcus Lawrence as the highest paid Defensive End in the NFL.

Detroit’s offseason workouts began last week, but Ansah traveled home to Ghana for family reasons. Now that he’s back and signed, he’ll hit the field with the team for the remaining eight weeks of offseason work.

Last season, Ziggy played 14 games for the Lions, leading the team with 12 sacks and adding 44 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 fumble recovery. Since entering the NFL in 2013, he’s amassed 44 total sacks.

Even though Ansah signed the tag, he can continue to work with the Lions on a long-term extension. The two sides have until July 16th to reach a new contract, or Ziggy will play on the one-year deal in 2018.

Retaining Ziggy is a priority for the Lions, who struggled last year to put pressure on the quarterback. No other Lion beside Ansah had more than three sacks last season.

Cougar fans remember Ziggy, who learned to play football while at BYU, eventually turning into a force in his senior season. He finished his final year at BYU with 4.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and added one interception and a forced fumble.

The Lions selected Ansah with the fifth pick in the 2013 NFL draft.