Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

PHOENIX -- It's nearly inevitable that the Detroit Lions and Matthew Stafford will find common ground on a new contract sometime this off-season, but the quarterback might not be the only cornerstone player the team extends for the long term.

The Lions have expressed interest in extension talks with defensive end Ziggy Ansah, though negotiations have yet to begin.

Ansah, who turns 28 in May, is entering the final season of his rookie contract. He's due to make a guaranteed $12.734 million this fall, and the Lions will have the option of using the franchise tag on him next spring if they don't strike a new deal. (A defensive end on a franchise tag will be paid $16.934 million this season.)

Though Ansah is coming off of a down season in which he had a career-low two sacks while dealing with a high ankle sprain much of the year, he's still expected to command near top-of-the-market money on a long-term deal.

Ansah made his first Pro Bowl in 2015, when he finished third in the league with 14.5 sacks and also was a force against the run.

The fifth overall pick out of BYU in 2013, Ansah played just three college seasons after growing up in Ghana, and the Lions often have said that he's only starting to reach his potential as a pass rusher.

The Lions signed Cornelius Washington to compete for the starting defensive end job opposite Ansah in free agency this month but remain thin at the position heading into April's NFL draft. Kerry Hyder, Armonty Bryant and Anthony Zettel are the other ends on the roster.

With the first round of the draft a month from today, the Lions are not expected to begin contract talks in earnest with Ansah, Stafford nor anyone else until afterward. General manager Bob Quinn said this month that extending Stafford is "a priority" this off-season, but he also noted that those kinds of deals "don’t usually happen in April or May."

Last year, the Lions signed three key players to extensions just before the start of the season: Darius Slay in July, and Sam Martin and Theo Riddick in September.

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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