Since bringing aboard Matt Patricia as the new head coach, the Detroit Lions have move methodically through the early portion of free agency. The team has strengthened the roster on both sides of the ball to push forward with the new coaching regime.

One of the first moves that the front office decided to follow through with was putting former Pro Bowl defensive end Ziggy Ansah on the franchise tag for the 2018 season. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Lions general manager Bob Quinn recently voiced that the team may wait until next offseason to see if Ansah is worth signing to a lucrative multi-year deal.

Appearing this week on PFT Live, Lions G.M. Bob Quinn seemed to indicate that the team is more likely to take a wait-and-see approach with Ansah in 2018, before deciding whether to make a multi-year commitment. Quinn spoke in terms of new coach Matt Patricia getting to know what Ansah. In theory, Patricia could see enough to conclude that a long-term contract is justified before the deadline for finalizing a deal — if Ansah signs the tender and shows up for the offseason program.

Since being selected with the fifth overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, Ansah has been a consistent factor defensively for the Lions. He has notched a pair of double-digit sacks seasons in the last three years while racking up 44.0 through his first five years.

The 28-year-old is coming off a highly productive 2017 campaign where he finished tied for eighth in the league with 12.0 sacks with 44 total tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in 14 games. This included three separate games with three sacks pushing his career total to four such performance tying him with Robert Porcher for the most in franchise history.

The Lions decision to wait to work out a long-term deal with Ansah could be due to him dealing with nagging injuries over the last couple of seasons. He has the talent that is deserving a lucrative contract, which if he continues to produce an elite level that should come his way next summer from Detroit or another franchise.