49ers should sign Melvin Ingram after Jordan Willis suspension

The 49ers are losing depth EDGE Jordan Willis to a six-game suspension, meaning the time is now to sign veteran pass-rusher Melvin Ingram.

It’s not the worst news in the world for the San Francisco 49ers. But they’re going to be without one of their supplementary pass-rushers, EDGE Jordan Willis, for at least the first six weeks of the 2021 season.

This, after Willis was suspended by the NFL for violating its policy on performance-enhancing substances.

Willis wasn’t expected to play a major role after being acquired by the Niners midseason a year ago to alleviate a large swarm of injury-related losses to the defensive line. Still, having a decent rotational pass-rusher is never a bad idea, and San Francisco’s pass-rushing depth is noticeably thin behind EDGEs Nick Bosa and Samson Ebukam.

Time to pick up the phone and make an NFL free agency move on veteran EDGE Melvin Ingram.

Melvin Ingram can help 49ers pass rush

At 32 years old, Ingram isn’t going to be anything close to the kind of player he was during his Pro Bowl years with the Los Angeles Chargers between 2017 and 2019. Last year, dealing with injuries, Ingram failed to record a single sack over seven games played.

Yet it’s important to note he’s just two years removed from back-to-back seven-sack campaigns, and those 10.5 sacks recorded in 2017 aren’t exactly forever ago.

Fortunately, the 49ers aren’t looking for a cornerstone pass-rusher right now. They already have one in Bosa, and there’s a hopeful complementary rusher in Ebukam, too. And if the Niners are able to get oft-injured EDGE Dee Ford back at some point this season after he suffered a year-ending back injury in 2020, it’s all the better.

Right now, San Francisco’s pass-rushing depth on the outside includes castoffs and reserves like Arden Key, Daeshon Hall and Alex Barrett, who shouldn’t exactly inspire fear in opposing quarterbacks.

While Ingram doesn’t appear to be at that kind of level any longer, he does have the previous pedigree and would only be asked to perform rotational duties.

The 49ers could use those.

49ers can have Melvin Ingram on the cheap in NFL free agency

The 2021 salary cap-shortened year has resulted in more than a handful of one-year “prove it” deals across the league, and the Niners have been no strangers to executing some of their own.

Ingram, who remains on the free-agent scrap heap, is someone Niner Noise has tabbed as a possible target before. But earlier this offseason, the need wasn’t quite as big as it is now with Willis out of the picture to kick off the year.

Ingram is probably waiting for the right situation and fit. Fortunately, San Francisco can provide both. With an estimated $10-plus million after inking the remainder of their 2021 NFL Draft class, the 49ers have enough cap space to offer Ingram a one-year deal in the range of $2 million without totally jeopardizing other needs this year.

Meanwhile, Ingram would be joining a defensive scheme not totally unlike what he experienced with the Chargers over the years, so the familiarity would be there, too.

Most of all, however, Ingram would have arguably the best possible shot at competing for a playoff berth instead of joining one of the many other rebuilding teams around the league with plenty of cap space yet in need of some more pass-rushers.

The Niners wouldn’t have to ask him to do too much either, rather perform as that third-tier pass-rusher on a situational basis while giving him a chance to resurrect his career before it ends entirely.