New Orleans Saints Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis announced today that the club has agreed to terms with rookie running back Mark Ingramand rookie linebacker Martez Wilson.
Ingram was the Saints' second selection in the first round of 2011 NFL Draft (28th overall). The 28th draft choice was obtained by the Saints in a draft day trade with the New England Patriots in exchange a 2011 second round draft choice (#56 overall) and the Saints' 2012 first round draft pick.
The 5-9, 215-pound running back was the first running back selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Ingram, the winner of the 2009 Heisman Trophy, played in 39 games at Alabama (24 starts) rushed for 3,261 yards and ran for 42 touchdowns, scoring 46 times overall. A unanimous first-team All-American, Ingram shattered school records in 2009 with 1,658 yards rushing on 271 carries with 17 touchdowns for the Crimson Tide's BCS National Championship squad, as he became the first player in the their storied history to capture the Heisman. Ingram is the ninth running back picked by the Saints in the first round and the fourth Heisman Trophy winner among the group.
Ingram was one of six recipients of Alabama's Commitment to Academic Excellence Award in 2010. He attended Grand Blanc (Flint, Mich.) HS for three seasons, where he ran for 846 yards and 14 touchdowns on 121 carries (7.0 avg.) as a junior, adding 260 yards and two scores on 22 receptions (11.8 avg.), while posting 33 tackles with two interceptions as a CB. As a senior he attended Flint Southwestern Academy and earned All-State and Detroit Free Press Offensive Dream Team honors after rushing for 1,699 yards and 24 touchdowns, as he also registered 84 tackles with eight interceptions. His father, Mark Ingram Sr., played WR for Michigan State before being drafted by the New York Giants 28th overall in 1987 and later ten seasons in the NFL with the Giants, Miami, Green Bay and Philadelphia, including a Super Bowl XXV victory with the Giants.
Wilson was the Saints' first selection in the third round of 2011 NFL Draft (72nd overall). The draft pick was obtained from the Washington Redskins in exchange for veteran offensive tackle Jammal Brown.
Wilson, 6-4, 252-pounds, played both inside and outside linebacker throughout his college career at the University of Illinois and led the Illini in tackles last season with 112 tackles, while adding 11.5 tackles for losses, four sacks, three forced fumbles, a fumble recovery, an interception and four pass defenses.
In 2010, Wilson was an All-Big Ten first team selection. During his collegiate career he played in 38 games (21 starts) and finished with 223 stops (102 solo), nine sacks, 20 tackles for a loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, one interception and eight passes defensed.
Wilson was a Sports Management Major at Illinois. He graduated from Simeon (Chicago, Ill.) Career Academy, where as a senior he earned* Parade* and USA Today All-American and was an All-State selection by the Chicago Tribune and Champaign News-Gazette and Chicago Sun-Times All-Public League and All-Area as a senior in 2006, when he recorded 240 tackles, seven sacks, one interception, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
