The San Francisco 49ers will officially have to give up an arm and a leg if they have interest in Los Angeles Chargers outside linebacker Melvin Ingram. The Chargers announced on Monday that they have placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on Ingram.
The non-exclusive tag allows Ingram to negotiate with other teams. Another team can sign Ingram to an offer sheet, and the Chargers then have the right to match. If they do not match, the new team has to give up two first round picks. This differs from the exclusive tag, which allows no outside negotiations.
Ingram joins Jason Pierre-Paul and Chandler Jones as notable edge rushers that will not hit the market. There remains talent on the open market, but the draft is sufficiently deep that it makes sense to hold back from spending too much money on the remaining free agent edge rushers.
NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock spoke to the media on Monday in advance of the Combine, and is a fan of the edge rushers. After the first group (Myles Garrett, Derek Barnett, Tim Williams, Takkarist McKinley, Charles Harris), Mayock pointed to some later options:
Say they're looking in the second or third round for an edge guy. I would tell you that DeMarcus Walker from Florida State is intriguing, and he's going to go in the second or third round. Tarell Basham from Ohio University, he's a really good football player, and he can play for somebody this year as a rookie. He probably -- he might not go to the third, but I've got a second-round grade on him. Jordan Willis from Kansas State. There is this freaky kid from Villanova named Tanoh Kpassagnon. He's 6'7", 280, and just kind of starting to figure out how good he might be some day. He's going to be an intriguing guy to watch at the combine. I mean, he could go as high as the second round, as low as the fourth round, but he's got freaky gifts.