LA Chargers: 4 free agents that will most likely sign elsewhere
By Jason Reed
Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports – LA Chargers
LA Chargers free agents that will walk: 2. Melvin Ingram
Melvin Ingram is one of the best pass rushers in franchise history and has been a staple of this generation of Chargers football. It is going to be really sad to see his tenure with the Bolts end, but at this point in his career, it is for the best.
Of course, the counter to this is that Ingram does not get big offers on the free-agent market because of his injuries in 2020 and the Chargers can re-sign him to a really cheap “prove-it” deal that does not restrict the cap.
That is certainly a possibility and is one that I hope for just as a Melvin Ingram fan, but I do not think it is likely and the Chargers really should not spend any sort of premium on Ingram.
Ingram has experience playing in a 3-4 defense, which is valuable, but at his age, his coverage abilities are not as good as they used to be and with the possibility of the Bolts bringing Leonard Floyd with Staley, there really is not much of a need for Ingram.
I went into this season with the mindset that it would be a contract try out between Ingram and Hunter Henry, as the Chargers could really only afford to keep one of them. Henry won that try out, because quite frankly, paying a 32-year-old Ingram a decent salary is just not good business.