Entering contract year, Saints RB Mark Ingram commits biggest turnover of his career

There is no good time to be found guilty of using PEDs and subsequently ordered to serve a NFL mandated season-opening four-game suspension.

But Mark Ingram’s timing couldn’t have been worse.

The eight-year veteran New Orleans Saints running back entered the final year of a four-year, $16 million contract hoping to build on the momentum of two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and prove that he deserves to be paid more.

Much more.

And then PEDs were found in his system costing him nearly $1 million in lost wages.

And now, I suspect, Mark Valentino Ingram II has reached a crossroads to his career in New Orleans.

When he returns to the active roster Oct. 1, after missing games against Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Atlanta and the New York Giants in September, he will have 12 games and perhaps the postseason to make a strong case for himself to General Manager Mickey Loomis and Coach Sean Payton.

Adding insult to injury, Ingram decided to train in Florida during the offseason and not with his teammates in Metairie. He skipped the team’s Organized Team Activities but participated in the mandatory minicamp. He denied wanting to get a new contract, though his behavior suggested otherwise under the influence of new agents.

Ingram is allowed to fully participate in every aspect of training camp that includes all four preseason games, beginning with Thursday’s opener at 6 p.m. against the Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field.

How much Ingram plays against the Jaguars and subsequent preseason games against Arizona, at San Diego and the Los Angeles Rams remains to be seen. Payton ultimately will make that decision, choosing from a list that includes second-year phenom Alvin Kamara, free-agent signees Shane Vereen and Terrance West, Jonathan Williams and sixth-round draft pick Boston Scott.

Meantime, Ingram said he would continue to challenge himself every single day in camp so “I can be the best me to help this team accomplish our goals.’‘

It’s worth noting that Ingram shares the top running back spot on the team’s first unofficial depth chart, along with Kamara, the NFL’s 2017 Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Last season, the pair came to be known as “Boom & Zoom,’‘ becoming the most productive running back tandem in NFL history with 3,094 yards from scrimmage.

Zoom will be without Boom for the first four games, which begs the question with regards to Ingram:

Will absence make the heart grow fonder? Or, out of sight, out of mind?

Time will tell.

For now, in a world where timing means everything, Ingram picked a horrible time to commit the biggest turnover of a splendid career.

This story was originally published August 7, 2018 at 1:05 PM.