Saints' Ingram: 'My best ball is ahead of me'

New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram isn't worried about heading into his contract year following a career-best season.

"I feel like my career is ascending," Ingram said, according to Nick Underhill of The Advocate. "I feel like my best ball is ahead of me."

Ingram will turn 29 years old near the end of the 2018 season, meaning he'd turn 30 in the first year of a potential new deal. He suggests that lower usage in his first few seasons - he didn't top 200 carries until his fourth year in the league - has helped preserve his body and kept him on track for sustained high-level performance.

Ingram set career highs with 230 carries, 1,124 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns, and 416 receiving yards while splitting backfield work with rookie Alvin Kamara.

Kamara's inexpensive rookie deal and the Saints' other roster needs could deter the team from giving Ingram the considerable raise he'll be due on his current four-year, $16-million contract. Though Ingram wishes to stay in New Orleans, he knows other factors are at play.

"It's a business at the end of the day. Peyton Manning got cut. You can't expect anything. They let one of the best ever go," he said. "I hope for the best and I hope to be here."

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