LA Chargers: Melvin Ingram or Hunter Henry, who should be re-signed?

The case for Melvin Ingram

Pros:

Quite frankly, the pros with Melvin Ingram have more to do with Hunter Henry than they do with Melvin Gordon.

The first pro for Ingram is that an edge rusher is extremely valuable in today’s NFL and harder to find than a decent-enough tight end. Ingram at his best is more impactful than Henry at his best and that is not really a hot take.

Ingram has a higher ceiling than Henry for sure. Henry has not reached the ceiling of being a top pass-catching tight end as we all hoped he would while Ingram has been part of one of the best edge-rushing duo for years.

Plus, because of his age, Ingram likely won’t cost the Chargers as much/sign as long of a contract, allowing the team to be more flexible with other free agents. Heck, they could even flirt with the idea of franchise tagging Ingram.

Cons:

He will be cheaper than Henry because he is at a different stage of his career. Ingram will be 32 next season. That is pretty old in the NFL. I know, there are examples of players playing past 30 and being effective, but Ingram is already showing signs of decline.

Ingram missed three games this season and has not recorded a sack to date. He has a grand total of eight tackles, none of which are for a loss, with four quarterback hits. He does have an interception, although if we are being honest, it was more of a gift than anything from Joe Burrow in his first career game.

You could blame Gus Bradley’s defense, the rotations that he throws out there on the defensive line or a slow start for Ingram without a preseason after missing games with injury. The fact of the matter is that he has been replaceable.

He shows flashes here and there but he certainly is not the same Melvin Ingram.