The Buffalo Bills were rumored to be in the running to sign talented but injury-prone defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah, but it appears they will miss out on the Ansah sweepstakes. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Ansah, 29, is expected to sign a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks.
Ansah, who the Detroit Lions selected with the No. 5 overall draft pick in the 2013 NFL Draft out of Brigham Young University, led the NFC with 14.5 sacks during his Pro Bowl 2015 season, and added 12 sacks in the 2017 campaign.
Injuries have plagued the athletic and explosive Ansah during his brief NFL career, as he appeared in only seven games (two starts) during a 2018 season that saw him rack up four sacks. After having the franchise tag applied to him last year, at a price tag of $17.1 million, Ansah sustained a shoulder injury in Week 1 and fought through the injury before going on the season-ending injured reserve list in December.
Ansah has only two seasons where he played in all 16 games (2014 and 2016). In his six seasons in Detroit, Ansah amassed 48 sacks.
Schefter also noted that Ansah is expected to miss all of training camp and could miss the first month of the season recovering from shoulder surgery. That obviously played into his availability this late in the free-agency process.
Earlier in the week, CBS Sports projected the Bills to sign Ansah.