The story of the Miami Dolphins’ offseason, at its core, is that the franchise revamped its offense and kept its defense together.

But then one key free agent signing made it so that the defense didn’t miss out on all the offseason personnel additions.

Three-time Pro Bowl edge defender Melvin Ingram III signed with the Dolphins roughly two weeks ago, and now Miami has another pass rusher it can rotate in for what appears to be a fairly complete defensive unit with reliable playmakers at every level.

Ingram’s new marriage with the Dolphins is one his father, George Melvin Ingram Jr., probably hoped for long ago. Despite living in North Carolina, Ingram’s father was a Dolphins fan during some glory years when the franchise was consistently competitive. Ingram lost his father to a heart attack when Ingram was 9.

“I’ve thought about him a lot,” said Ingram after Wednesday’s mandatory minicamp practice. “If he was here to see this, it’ll be crazy. But I know he’s smiling down, and he’s happy. I know that.

“I don’t know how he picked the Dolphins, but he loved them.”

Because of his father, the 33-year-old veteran called it a dream to be in Miami.

“Just because, growing up, I knew he was such a big Miami Dolphins fan,” he said. “It’s definitely been a dream, and through the grace of God, it happened.”

Ingram isn’t practicing with the Dolphins yet during minicamp or the previous weeks of organized team activities. In fact, he doesn’t even have his jersey number yet in Miami. That hasn’t stopped him from remaining active at Dolphins practices. On Wednesday, he was seen in a hoodie helping out the outside linebackers unit.

“It’s just getting on the field with the guys,” Ingram said. “It’s getting into their routine of what they’re doing individually. It’s dope to be out there with them.”

Even if the Dolphins haven’t yet had a chance to line Ingram up on the edge and see what it looks like alongside or opposite of defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah or fellow outside linebackers Jaelan Phillips and Andrew Van Ginkel, Ingram’s presence is still being felt at minicamp.

“That’s exactly why, all things equal, he’s added value for the Dolphins,” said coach Mike McDaniel. “There’s an element of professional success and hunger. He’s trying to prove himself, as well, just like his team is, and we’re doing that one game at a time.”

And the full allotment of work will come in due time.

“That’s something that we don’t want to just throw people out there to throw them out there,” McDaniel said. “They have to be in the prerequisite shape, and we’ve been working [in the offseason program] since April 4 with the rest of the guys. Right now, that’s kind of the limit with which we’re comfortable doing with him.”

Ingram said he’ll be ready to go with the team by the start of training camp in late July.

He also hopes to have his number with the Dolphins selected by then. For the nine seasons (2012-2020) he spent with the Chargers, where he made all three of his Pro Bowls (2017-19), Ingram wore No. 54. That number is available in Miami. His two that he wore last season — 8 with the Pittsburgh Steelers and 24 with the Kansas City Chiefs — are occupied by Jevon Holland and Byron Jones, respectively.

Ingram saw a resurgence to his Chargers days in the second half of last season with the Chiefs, becoming a starter and then contributing two sacks in three postseason games for the AFC Championship Game participants.

New Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, who played his first six NFL seasons with the Chiefs, became witness then to the impact Ingram can make on a new team.

“I’m very excited because I really know what Melvin can bring to a team,” Hill said last week. “His mindset, just the way that he approaches his work, his craft and he’s just able to get around guys like Christian [Wilkins] and Emmanuel [Ogbah], and it’s just going to crazy.”

With 55 career regular and postseason sacks to his name, Ingram speaks with the utmost confidence about what he’s bringing to the Dolphins.

“Me!” he replied to the question. And then he doubled down on the same response when the reporter asked again, thinking he was asking if the question was about him and not already telling him his answer.

Ingram battled through multiple knee injuries in his final season with the Chargers before his second-half surge in 2021. He reports no physical concerns within two months of training camp.

“Same way I’ve been my whole career,” Ingram said. “I’m still me. I’m 200-percent healthy. I feel amazing. Ready to rock and roll.”

And the way he has played whole career has been with a mean streak.

“It’s a very violent sport, and you have to be angry,” he said. “That’s what this game comes with. It’s a way to release anger, legally.”

Last offseason, Ingram also visited Miami then before ultimately signing on with the Steelers. Of what he liked about the Dolphins, he said: “Everything, from the training staff to the coaches to the people up top, the players, everything. It’s a first-class organization, and it’s just something I wanted to be a part of. It’s a blessing to be here.”

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