New Orleans Saints Rumors: The Truth Behind Mark Ingram Being Traded To Philadelphia And The Possibility

The New Orleans Saints have had the spotlight on them quite often during this offseason but no more than in the last few days as rumors have swirled about Mark Ingram. The running back who has been a workhorse for the Saints, and is coming off of his best NFL season yet, has been the subject of some trade rumors this past week. Now, it is time to see just how much a possibility there is that Ingram ends up with the Philadelphia Eagles.

When the Saints actually signed former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson two weeks ago, many thought Mark Ingram’s days were numbered. Sean Payton said the Saints planned on using both running backs to their fullest advantage for a strong one-two punch.

Just a couple of days ago, the Saints lost center Max Unger for an undetermined amount of time, according to the Philly Voice. A foot injury has taken the anchor of the Saints’ offensive line out and he will not be back for the first six games of the 2017 regular season, at least, that was originally thought.

Just reported on @gmfb: #Saints star C Max Unger has suffered a foot injury and is expected to miss the start of the 2017 season, source say

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 8, 2017

Once that injury came up, rumors of Mark Ingram being on the trading block resurfaced as the Saints needed to find a new starting center. The Saints and everyone else also knew that the Philadelphia Eagles have been looking at moving away from Jason Kelce, so that rumor makes a lot of sense now.

Bleeding Green Nation said that the rumored trade of Ingram to the Eagles for Kelce was floating around and that it could very well take place soon. The rumor started with Kyle Scott of Crossing Broad who has been spot-on accurate with a lot of other NFL rumors in the past couple of months.

Well, it appears as if he ended up getting one wrong.

97.5 FM The Fanatic recently spoke with ESPN’s NFL expert Adam Schefter, and he touched on the rumored trade of Mark Ingram away from the Saints. Schefter said that it was a simple suggestion that was blown out of proportion.

“Let me tell you. Allow me to refute that right now and say that there is absolutely nothing to that. There was absolutely nothing ever to that. I spoke to people in both organizations and both had the same reaction: ‘We have never spoken.’ So I don’t know where that started, and maybe that would start things up now? I don’t think so, based on the reaction that I got from both organizations, but that was never in the works.

“Again, I don’t want to say it’ll never happen, because who knows. Strange things happen. But I’m just telling you there was absolutely nothing to that as of right now. I don’t expect there to be anything to come of that. So that’s where we’re at at that. Is that definitive enough?”

So, Schefter isn’t saying that it will never happen, but he is saying that there have been no discussions of any kind between the Saints and Eagles regarding Mark Ingram.

For now, the Saints are moving forward with Mark Ingram as the proposed starting running back in 2017 with Adrian Peterson as the back-up and third down back. As for Max Unger? The news of his injury may not be as bad as originally thought.

In a matter of two days, Unger went from missing the start of the regular season to possibly being back in time for it. Pro Football Talk is now reporting that the Saints actually expect him back in the preseason despite the foot injury.

It is no secret that the New Orleans Saints had to make some big moves during the offseason after yet another disappointing record in 2016. If they’re going to compete in the strong NFC South, some changes needed to be made. As of now, they still have some work to do on defense, but they have ramped up their offense once again. One player who looks to be a big part of that offense is Mark Ingram who will not be traded to Philadelphia, despite what the rumors say.

[Featured Image by Sean Gardner/Getty Images]