Chargers Agree To Guarantee Melvin Ingram’s 2020 Salary

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the Chargers DE Melvin Ingram signed an adjusted contract yesterday that will guarantee his 2020 salary.

This explains why Ingram made the decision to return to practice on Thursday after previously sitting out. 

Garafolo adds that it remains to be seen what this means for a potential extension between Ingram and the Chargers moving forward.

Ingram is owed a $14 million salary for the 2020 season. 

On Monday, Chargers HC Anthony Lynn told reporters that Ingram has been going through team meetings and walkthroughs.

“Melvin Ingram is in meetings, he’s in walkthroughs, he’s at everything, individual. What he do on the practice field, we’ll see later,” Ingram said. “But like I said earlier, that’s kind of company business, and I’m just going to leave it at that because I don’t have to talk about it right now. I got a lot of other things that I got to get done. I don’t really want to spend a lot of time talking about that.”

The Chargers locked up fellow DE Joey Bosa to the largest contract for a defensive player recently, which came out to a five-year extension worth $135 million. 

Ingram, 31, is a former first-round pick of the Chargers back in 2012. He played out his four-year, $8.39 million rookie contract that included 7.61 million guaranteed before the Chargers picked up his fifth-year option that paid him $7,751,000 for the 2017 season.

The Chargers placed the franchise tag on Ingram in 2017 before later signing him to a four-year, $66 million contract with $42 million guaranteed. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent in 2021.

In 2019, Ingram appeared in 13 games for the Chargers and recorded 48 tackles, seven sacks, one interception, and one fumble recovery.