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- Mar 19, 2019
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Plenty of people took notice when the Chargers recently made defensive end Joey Bosa the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history. One of those people was Chargers defensive end Melvin Ingram.
Daniel Popper of TheAthletic.com reports that Ingram hasn’t been practicing due to dissatisfaction with his contract.
Ingram is scheduled to make $14 million this season, the final year of his current deal. That’s nearly half the $27 million annual new-money average given to Bosa under his contract.
Ingram’s salary becomes guaranteed as a practical matter on the first day of the regular season; however, there are no real guarantees this year given the possibility of lost games due to the pandemic. A new contract with a large signing bonus and a low 2020 base salary would become the best way to guard against the cancellation of games due to COVID-19.
Ingram could have held out, but the new labor deal drives the price tag to $50,000 per day and prohibits teams from forgiving the fines for players not operating under their rookie deals. The Chargers could play hardball with Ingram, fining him for conduct detrimental or refusal to practice or something along those lines. They apparently are cooperating with Ingram and possibly trying to work something out.