Former Detroit Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah agreed to a one-year deal with the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday night, a league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The deal is expected to include $5.5 million in guaranteed money, with incentives that could boost it by roughly another $8 million, a source said. Ansah is scheduled to fly to Seattle on Thursday to sign the contract. The Seahawks' acquisition of Ansah will help offset the loss of defensive end Frank Clark, who was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. By waiting until Thursday, the Seahawks won't lose a 2020 compensatory pick by signing Ansah. Any unrestricted free agents signed after 4 p.m. ET Tuesday no longer count against the formula used to determine comp picks the following season. The Seahawks were projected to receive the maximum of four 2020 comp picks and did not want to forfeit any of them. The Seahawks brought Ansah for a visit in late April, Schefter reported. A source told ESPN they also met with former Green Bay Packers outside linebacker Nick Perry in late March. Perry was released by Green Bay and thus would have had no bearing on future compensatory picks had he been signed before Tuesday. Seattle also was linked to defensive tackles Al Woods, Corey Liuget, Danny Shelton and Earl Mitchell. Woods appeared in two games with the Seahawks in 2011. Ansah, who will turn 30 later this month, has 48 sacks in 80 career games since the Lions drafted him fifth overall in 2013. His best season came in 2015, when he recorded 14.5 sacks en route to his only Pro Bowl appearance. Ansah played on a $17.143 million franchise tag last season and was limited to seven games by a shoulder injury that required surgery. That could keep him out until the start of training camp or longer; some league sources told Schefter they believe Ansah could miss the first month of the season, at least. Ziggy Ansah was limited to seven games for the Lions last season by a shoulder injury that required surgery. Some league sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter they believe Ansah could miss the first month of this season, at least. Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire Defensive line was the Seahawks' top remaining need after the draft. They took defensive end L.J. Collier 29th overall -- the selection they acquired from Kansas City in the Clark trade -- but didn't use any of their remaining 10 selections on edge rushers. The only other defensive lineman they drafted was defensive tackle Demarcus Christmas in the sixth round. With Clark gone, no edge player on Seattle's roster had more sacks last season than Cassius Marsh's 5.5, a career high that he reached with the San Francisco 49ers. The other players the Seahawks have at that spot are 2018 draft picks Rasheem Green (third round) and Jacob Martin (sixth), plus Quinton Jefferson, Branden Jackson, Nazair Jones and Nate Orchard. Barkevious Mingo, Seattle's starter at strongside linebacker, rushed sparingly off the edge in passing situations last season. Orchard, a free-agent addition, received no guaranteed money in his one-year, minimum-salary deal. After the draft, coach Pete Carroll and general manager John Schneider strongly implied that more moves were in the offing to help Seattle up front. "There is work that we're engaged in," Carroll said when asked about where the Seahawks stood with their pass rush after trading Clark and drafting Collier. "[The draft] is this stage of filling up the roster, and we're very much involved with what is coming up next too. So we're not done. We've got work to do. We're excited about what's coming up, and you guys will see in time." Schneider seemingly made reference to the Tuesday cutoff point, saying: "We talk about those phases of free agency, and there's basically three or four different phases, and we're basically now heading into Phase 3." Carroll said at the NFL annual meeting in March that a run-stuffing defensive tackle was a clear area of need for the Seahawks, who let 2018 starter Shamar Stephen leave in free agency and didn't sign anyone to replace him.<doc-sep>The big news for the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday is of course that they are flying Ziggy Ansah, formerly of the Detroit Lions, to Seattle in order to sign a one-year contract. However, in addition to signing Ansah reports have now emerged that the team is also set to sign a veteran to compete for the slot cornerback roll left empty when Justin Coleman departed for the Lions. Veteran nickel CB Jamar Taylor is in Seattle today and going to sign with the #Seahawks, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. More defensive help to add to the Ziggy Ansah signing. — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 9, 2019 Jamar Taylor was a second-round pick of the Miami Dolphins in 2013, and spent the last couple Seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Arizona Cardinals. Before anyone asks, his arms are 30-3/4" in length, meaning he definitely seems to fall solely in the slot cornerback role for the Seahawks who prefer longer corners on the outside. So, the Hawks are indeed set to sign two veteran players Thursday, but only one of them is an edge rusher. Taylor will step into a defensive backs room that is very, very young, where he and safety Bradley McDougald will be the elder statesmen. If nothing else, the training camp competition for the nickel cornerback role will certainly be interesting.<doc-sep>
ESPN NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky saw up close the impact Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah can make on a football team. Report: Seahawks to sign Ansah | Seahawks 2019 free agency tracker A quarterback with five teams in the league from 2005 to 2017, Orlovsky spent three seasons as Ansah’s teammate with the Detroit Lions. Orlovsky joined 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk (with Jake Heaps, another former teammate of Ansah’s, filling in as Brock Huard’s co-host) to share what he knows about the reported new Seahawks defensive end. “He instantly makes everybody on the defense better when it comes to Monday through Friday. The way he practices, the effort that he practices at, the commitment to the craft that he goes about on a day-to-day basis, is outstanding,” Orlovsky said about Ansah. “He is one of those guys that is incredibly motivated, self-starter, tireless worker, and that will pop on tape. He will match the standard and even elevate it (from) what has already been laid in Seattle. “… If it was Saturday morning and Ziggy was running around in walkthrough and you got word from the doctors and whatnot that Ziggy was playing, you were like, woo, we’re playing with an extra guy in a way. He is that good of a player, impactful of a player – not just getting home to the quarterback. Again, the relentless effort, but also in the run game. So he was one of those guys that gave you a boost just knowing, alright, Ziggy’s going to be up in pads playing for us.” While Ansah is coming off a significant shoulder injury and some have insinuated that he isn’t as in love with playing football as others, Orlovsky said he saw the exact opposite when he shared a locker room with the No. 5 overall selection from the 2013 NFL Draft and 2015 Pro Bowl selection. “That’s just made-up stuff. I’m telling you, this guy practices like an absolute animal,” Orlovsky said about Ansah’s commitment level. “… (Ansah is) an introverted, quiet person. ‘I’m here at work to do my job, I’ve got things that I need to get done to do my job.’ You’re going to see he has a great routine, getting to work at a certain time and getting his body prepped and rehabbed. … He’s going to be a guy that goes about his business on his terms and that he’s very much focused on doing his job when he’s in the building.” You can hear the full interview with Orlovsky in the player embedded in this post or download a podcast version at this link. Report: Seahawks expected to sign nickel CB Jamar Taylor