NFL free agency: Making the case for 49ers to sign EDGE Ezekiel Ansah
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers need to address their pass rush this offseason, and landing an EDGE like Ezekiel Ansah of the Detroit Lions in NFL free agency might be the route to take.
There’s a lot for San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch to do this offseason, and making upgrades for the pass rush is high on the list.
The Niners’ 2017 campaign wasn’t exactly top notch in this area, as the team tied for 26th with just 30 sacks on the season. San Francisco’s leading pass-rusher, 33-year-old EDGE Elvis Dumervil, led the defense with 6.5 sacks.
No other defender had more than three.
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While the 2018 NFL Draft might be an avenue Lynch chooses to take to address this, free agency provides another plausible option.
Namely targeting Detroit Lions EDGE Ezekiel Ansah.
Ansah, 28 years old, is coming off his rookie contract and will hit the market this offseason. And it doesn’t totally make sense for Detroit to bring him back.
Without reading too much into this, @MySportsUpdate speculates Ansah isn’t exactly a fit in soon-to-be Lions head coach Matt Patricia’s — still filling out his coordinating duties with the New England Patriots — defensive scheme.
And the Niners appear to be possible suitors:
Executives around the league believe the #49ers will target Ezekiel Ansah in free agency.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) January 19, 2018
There’s a belief that Ansah might not fit the Matt Patrica defense that is coming to Detroit.
Ansah is coming off a 12-sack 2017 season, much more reminiscent of his 2015 Pro Bowl-level year in which he posted 14.5. Age isn’t exactly a question either, at least not for the next couple of years.
So would San Francisco look to make a move? Probably, and here’s why.
Finding the Fit with the 49ers
The Lions ran a similar 4-3 Under defense under coordinator Teryl Austin, which would make Ansah’s transition to Niners coordinator Robert Saleh’s scheme pretty simple.
Ansah would assume the role of the right defensive end, or LEO, in base and pass-rushing formations.
You can get an idea of both the scheme fit and impact from this tweet from our friend Rob Lowder over at Niners Wire:
Interestingly enough, former Detroit general manager Martin Mayhew — who now works in the 49ers front office — drafted Ansah back in 2013. So there’s a connection to consider.
On top of all this is the fact Ansah would provide a substantially larger improvement to an underperforming Niners pass rush. In 2017, Pro Football Focus gave Ansah a pass-rush productivity rating of 10.3, which is tied with that of Houston Texans premier pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney.
And that mark is far above anything San Francisco had off the edge last season.
Yeah, But at What Cost?
With a league-high $115 million in salary cap space this offseason, the 49ers don’t have to worry about being frugal.
That said, Lynch wants to make smart decisions, financially. He can afford to be aggressive but not at the expense of creating cap problems in the next two or three years.
Ansah’s rookie contract is negligible. But Spotrac.com’s market value tool gives us an idea what kind of money the former first-round pick should expect this offseason — four years at $53,132,600, an average yearly salary of just over $13.2 million.
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That’s a lot. But if you subscribe to the believe an elite-level pass-rusher off the outside is the second-most important position outside of quarterback, it’s money well spent.
Taking this route would also remove pressure off Lynch to find a prolific pass-rusher in the NFL Draft, leaving the 49ers’ first-round selection for another position of great need (cornerback, offensive line or wide receiver).
Ansah would take pressure off a beleaguered secondary too, as a defensive backfield is only as good as the pass rush allows it.
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So if the Niners go shopping this offseason and wind up bringing Ansah to Santa Clara, you should be pretty happy about it.