Cleveland Browns pick-a-player: Adding one free agent from each AFC West team
By Nick Swanson
Los Angeles Chargers: Melvin Ingram, EDGE
The Los Angeles Chargers have quite a few quality free agents this year. I was looking at the tight end position but Austin Hooper and Harrison Bryant are two very good pieces and there isn’t a desperate need there. I also looked at the kicker position but I really don’t think that Michael Badgley would be an upgrade over Cody Parkey. I have to go with the nine-year veteran edge rusher, Melvin Ingram.
The former first-round pick out of South Carolina has been one of the better outside linebackers in the NFL over the course of his career. He’s extremely underrated but also somewhat prone to injury. He only played in seven games in 2020, missing the other nine due to a knee injury that had him on and off the injured reserve list.
When healthy, Ingram is a force to be reckoned with. In the stretch of four seasons from 2015 to 2018, he was incredible. Over that span, he recorded 169 tackles, 49 tackles for loss, 80 quarterback hits, 36 sacks, 15 passes defended, 10 forced fumbles, one defensive touchdown, and an interception.
Ingram’s production speaks for itself, but at 31 years old, he may end up slowing down soon rather than later. This move would show that the Browns are in win-now mode and could put them over the hump.