Seahawks To Sign Ziggy Ansah

The Seahawks won out for Ziggy Ansah. The former Lions defensive end will head west on a one-year deal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

Ansah will sign his deal on Thursday, Rapoport tweets. This will take a key free agent off the board, a day after UFA signings became disconnected from 2020 compensatory picks.

It appeared the Seahawks and Bills were vying for Ansah, with Brandon Beane remarking hours ago his team was still negotiating with the former Pro Bowl pass rusher. But the Seahawks, who had a much bigger immediate need at defensive end, will make the addition. Ansah will join first-round pick L.J. Collier in a new-look Seattle edge corps.

The Seahawks’ Frank Clark trade left them vulnerable on the edge. They used the No. 29 overall pick on Collier, who maxed out at six sacks in his best TCU season, but now have a former top-five pick in the fold. Ansah has struggled with injuries, his most recent shoulder malady set to keep him out until perhaps midway through training camp, but has been productive when healthy. The soon-to-be 30-year-old edge presence has 48 career sacks, his 14.5 in 2015 sending him to the Pro Bowl and the 12 in 2017 inducing the Lions to place their franchise tag on him last year.

Free agent edges Nick Perry and Shane Ray also visited Seattle, but the team will go with Ansah. Perry and Ray join several starter- or sub-package-level pass rushers still available. Derrick Morgan, Michael Johnson, Andre Branch, Pernell McPhee, Dion Jordan and others remain on the market.

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