With the devastating Achilles injury suffered by Jaelan Phillips in the Dolphins’ win over the Jets, yesterday, the Dolphins must consider re-signing a former defensive standout.
Former Defensive Standout Must Re-Sign with the Dolphins
The aforementioned defensive standout, the Dolphins must re-sign is none other than Melvin Ingram. Ingram spent the 2022 season as a Dolphin. He was highly productive in his lone season in South Beach.
Melvin Ingram’s 2022 Stats
In 17 games (including three starts), Ingram had 37 total tackles (22 combined, 15 solo) including six sacks. He also had a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries, including one for a touchdown. He also defensed one pass.
Ingram and the Chargers
Ingram’s first three seasons in Southern California were marred by injury. He played in 29 of 48 (60%) of the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers games in his first three years. From 2015-2018, however, Ingram appeared in each of the Chargers 16 games in each of those seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In 2019, Ingram’s streak of four straight seasons without missing a game came to an end. He appeared in 13 games for the Chargers that season and was named to his third and final Pro Bowl. Ingram only managed to appear in seven games, his final year with the Chargers, in 2020 due to a knee injury.
Ingram in Pittsburgh and Kansas City
After the 2020 season, Ingram signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His stay in the Steel City was brief. Ingram played in only six games for the Steelers, before he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs for a sixth-round draft pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Why Re-Signing Ingram Makes Sense
Aside from Phillips’ injury, the move makes logical sense for both the Dolphins and Ingram to reunite. Ingram is 34 years old, obviously far from his productive early years when he was chosen by the then-San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He is also not likely to produce the numbers he did in 2015 or 2017 (His most productive seasons, each with 10.5 sacks). However, Ingram still likely has a drive to want to play. He has not filed NFL retirement paperwork. Ingram is (still) a free agent. He likely would take a discount to play for a contender, of which, Miami is now. Yes, the Dolphins have Ogbah and Van Ginkel to fill the void left by Philips. Signing Ingram would be an added blanket of protection that could do more than just serve as an insurance policy.
Takeaway
The Dolphins need to reach out to Melvin Ingram and see if he would be interested in re-joining them. The worst Ingram could say is no. However, there are enough reasons for both him and the Dolphins to reunite. One of the biggest reasons Miami should be interested is he still has some productive football left in him. For Ingram, if he really felt he was done with football, likely would have filed retirement paperwork, which he has not. This could mean Ingram still wants to play. If he does have the drive to continue to play, he should strongly consider the Dolphins where he would be playing for a contender and could also help contribute to a team who is now in desperate need of more depth to make up for the loss of their young defensive star in Philips.
Main Photo: [Jim Rassol] – USA Today Sports
