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Mark Ingram’s time with the Ravens has ended, in practice.
Yes, he is still on the team. Yes, he would possibly play again this year if a series of injuries forced him to join the team.
But if there was any doubt about his future, there should be none now. ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports that Ingram it will be a healthy scratch for tonight’s playoff game against Bills.
“Ingram is totally healthy and is said to understand that this is a business decision for Baltimore due to wage cap considerations,” says Schefter.
The business decision is as follows: Ingram has a base salary of $ 5 million in 2021. Certainly, he will be cut before that figure reaches its limit on March 17.
At the 2020 CBA, if Ingram sustained a serious injury that prevented him from playing for the Ravens or anyone else in 2021, he would be entitled to $ 2 million. Also under the CBA, the first $ 1.2 million of that payment would count against the salary cap. (The other $ 800,000 would be treated as player benefit costs.)
Thus, the Ravens are trying to avoid an unnecessary limit charge in 2021 of $ 1.2 million by putting Ingram on the field again. With JK Dobbins and Gus Edwards doing it in the final position, it’s a no-brainer for a team that is about to part ways with Ingram, anyway.
Then again, it is only $ 1.2 million dollars. If the Ravens saw real value in playing with Ingram while pursuing a championship, they would. Clearly, they don’t want to.
In 2020, Ingram had a minimum of 72 loads and a minimum of 299 running yards. With 7,324 run yards since joining the league in 2011, Ingram ranks 60th on the run list of all time, with more yards than the Hall of Fame Leroy Kelly, DeMarco Murray, Curt Warner, Robert Smith, the Hall of Fame John Henry Johnson and Arian Adoptive.