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As expected, the Monday 4 p.m. ET deadline passed without the Detroit Lions and Ezekiel Ansah coming to multi-year agreement. The two sides had until today’s deadline to prevent Ansah from playing on a one-year, $17.1 million franchise tag deal and, instead, play on a negotiated multi-year contract.
But it appeared the two sides were never really close to coming to an agreement. On Saturday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said barring a significant change in circumstance, no deal would get done. By Sunday evening, ESPN’s Adam Schefter basically closed the door on any chance of an agreement:
Detroit and Lions’ franchised DE Ziggy Ansah will not reach a deal by Monday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline to sign franchise players, per league sources. Ansah’s contract will expire after this season, and he will be scheduled to become a free agent.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 16, 2018
And now the deadline has passed with no surprises. In addition to Ansah, Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence, Rams safety Lamarcus Joyner and Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell all failed to sign long-term deals after given the franchise tag from their respective team.
For Ansah, who turns 30 next year, it means his time in Detroit could be coming to an end. The Lions will not be able to negotiate a deal with Ansah during the season, and if they can’t agree to terms after the season is over, he will become a free agent next March.