Mike Triplett, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Could flooded RB market lower Mark Ingram's price tag?

New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram did just about everything he could last season to boost his value heading into free agency.

But I still think it’s possible that Ingram can remain in an affordable price range for the Saints to keep him (maybe less than $4 million per year) -- especially as the free-agent market continues to get flooded with veterans released around the league.

Reggie Bush, Steven Jackson and DeAngelo Williams were the latest reported salary-cap casualties this week. And at some point, Adrian Peterson could also wind up joining a free-agent class that already includes DeMarco Murray, Frank Gore, Ryan Mathews, Justin Forsett, C.J. Spiller, Shane Vereen, Knowshon Moreno, Chris Johnson, Darren McFadden and several other mid-level guys.

On top of that, many analysts including ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. believe that this year’s draft class is deep with running backs in the middle rounds -- a cheaper route that more and more teams have started to take in recent years.

“There are a lot of guys out there [in free agency] that are proven entities, but they also have a lot of tread on the tires,” Kiper said. “I’d always go the rookie route. I would not take a running back in the first round, but I would from the second round on.”

Kiper then rattled off a list of names and projected rounds: Todd Gurley and Tevin Coleman in the second, Ameer Abdullah, David Johnson and Jeremy Langford in the third, Duke Johnson and Jay Ajayi in the fourth, T.J. Yeldon in the fifth and David Cobb, Terrell Watson and Bill Belton in the late rounds.

“So take your pick. You can find them,” Kiper said. “They’re there every year, and they’re gonna be there again this season.”

I still think Ingram should rank near the top among all those options -- especially when it comes to the Saints.

The former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round draft pick is still just 25 years old. He just made his first Pro Bowl as an alternate, running for a career-high 964 yards and nine touchdowns despite missing three games with a broken hand. And he proved his value as a workhorse back with four 100-yard games in a six-week span.

Just as importantly, the Saints are high on Ingram’s character and work ethic, as coach Sean Payton stressed last week while expressing a desire to keep Ingram in New Orleans.

Intangibles like maturity, professionalism and leadership became an issue with the Saints last season, so it would be tough for them to part with a guy who has done things the right way since they drafted and developed him. Ingram was one of a few young Saints players whose arrow was actually pointing up last season.

If the Saints do lose out on a bidding war for Ingram, however, they do have more options than usual to fall back on. So either way, they should be able to build a healthy committee of running backs that could also include incumbents Pierre Thomas, Khiry Robinson and Travaris Cadet.

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