A defensive wish list for the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency
By Drew Brooks
Ezekiel Ansah
Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah from the Detroit Lions is a potential option for the Chiefs if they are looking to add an edge rusher. Ansah has been in the NFL for six years and has spent all his time with the Lions. During his career, he’s played in 80 games and started 73. Over his career, he’s had trouble with injuries.
He’s coming off a season where he only started 2 games out of the 7 that he played due to more injuries. Health is a major concern for Ansah, who can’t seem to stay healthy, but when he is healthy he puts up impressive numbers. He’s played two full seasons in his career and over those two seasons, he put up 22 sacks. Just a year ago, he played in 14 games and put up 12 sacks.
While Spotrac sets his market value as $13.6 million a year, his injury history might be enough to bring this price tag down. It’s a great opportunity for the Chiefs to offer Ansah a cheap prove-it deal where at worst the Chiefs get a player who sits injured on the bench for little cost and at best the Chiefs get an elite pass rusher on a cheap contract.
Henry Anderson
Another defensive end that would contribute to the Chiefs defense is Henry Anderson. Anderson has been in the league four years but has only started 22 games. He was most recently with the New York Jets but spent his first three years with the Indianapolis Colts.
He’s coming off a year where he played in all 16 games, but only started 3. Over this time, he notched 7 sacks and 35 tackles as well as 16 QB hits. Because he hasn’t had the most impressive career, Anderson’s next contract should be a cheap deal. He would be an extremely solid addition for the Chiefs to play off the edge and would provide massive value on a cheap deal.