With the start of the new league year and free agency roughly a month away, the NFL’s franchise tag window for 2025 opens on Tuesday, Feb. 18, and runs until 4 p.m. ET on March 4. Teams can place that tag on one unrestricted free agent, at times in order to buy extra time to work out a multi-year deal, but players do play on the one-year fully guaranteed tag sometimes.
Among the Detroit Lions' crop of 2025 free agents, no one stands out as a franchise tag candidate as both ESPN and Pro Football Focus have noted.
So it’s unlikely the Lions will use a franchise tag (or transition tag) on anyone this year. Which begs a question…
When is the last the time the Detroit Lions used the franchise tag?
The Lions notably did not use the franchise tag on wide receiver Kenny Golladay in 2021, which has proven to be a very wise move. They have actually only used the franchise tag four times ever (h/t to the Detroit Free Press).
OT Jeff Backus-2006
DT Cory Redding-2007
DE Cliff Avril-2012
DE Ziggy Ansah-2018
Backus and Redding signed multi-year deals to stay with the Lions. Avril played on the tag, then left the following year for the Seattle Seahawks (where he won a Super Bowl).
Ansah was coming of a 12-sack season in 2017, but the Lions’ hesitancy to commit a big multi-year deal to him was well-founded. He had been up-and-down in years recent to that (two sacks in 2016–13 games; 14.5 sacks in 2015), and they wanted to see him repeat.
Naturally, Ansah was limited to seven games by shoulder issues in 2018 and registered just four sacks. He played 11 games for the Seahawks in 2019 then two for the 49ers in 2020, and he was out of the league in 2021. The No. 5 pick in the 2013 draft will stand as the last time the Lions used the franchise tag for at least one more year.
