The Kansas City Chiefs Trade for Defensive End Melvin Ingram?

The Kansas City Chiefs Send a 2022 6th Round Pick for Melvin Ingram

The NFL trade deadline is approaching at 4 p.m. ET and teams are making trades. The Kansas City Chiefs acquired defensive end, Melvin Ingram, from the Pittsburg Steelers in exchange for a 2022 6th round pick. The Kansas City Chiefs are in dire need of a pass rush as they have posted an abysmal 11 sacks as a team which ranks them 30th overall according to statmuse.com

What does the acquisition of Melvin Ingram mean for the Chiefs?

Melvin Ingram Is Familiar with the Chiefs

Melvin Ingram has played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Chargers. One of the key opponents in the AFC West for the Chiefs. He was drafted in 2012 with Los Angeles Chargers 1st round, pick No. 18 out of South Carolina. In his time with the Chargers, he was a 3x Pro Bowler posting 49 sacks, 70 tackles for a loss, and 14 forced fumbles. He became a force when paired with Joey Bosa.

In the 2021 offseason, Melvin Ingram visited the Kansas City Chiefs looking to sign as a free agent. He would eventually sign with the Pittsburg Steelers on July 20th.

Can Melvin Ingram Provide a Spark on Defense?

So far in 2021, Melvin Ingram has played in 6 games for the Pittsburg Steelers. During these 6 games, he has contributed 1 sack, 10 combo tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, and 6 quarterback hits. He was getting significant snaps in the first 3 games for the Steelers. The last 3 games have been the opposite only seeing 26% of the snaps in Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Melvin Ingram will be providing a spark to this Kansas City Chiefs defense that is lacking the ability to rush the opposing quarterback. Assuming Chris Jones kicks back inside to defensive tackle, the front of this defensive line could be intimidating. Having Melvin Ingram lineup opposite of Frank Clark could apply pressure to opposing quarterbacks that fans have been clamoring for.

Thoughts on the Melvin Ingram Trade?

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports graded the trade for Melvin Ingram and said this:

Full trade: Chiefs acquire DE Melvin Ingram from Steelers in exchange for 2022 sixth-rounder

Steelers: B
Chiefs: B

"“The Steelers signed Ingram in July with the intention of rotating him opposite T.J. Watt, but the former Chargers Pro Bowler quickly fell on the depth chart. It would’ve been nice for Pittsburgh to keep him around as emergency depth with the defense guiding their quiet win streak, but he never had a long-term place here. Getting anything for a 32-year-old on a one-year deal is solid.” “The Chiefs, meanwhile, need all the help they can get on defense. Ingram doesn’t have the steady explosion he once did; he’s very clearly a half-season rental. But a late-rounder is a small price to pay to potentially shift Chris Jones back inside and give one of the NFL’s worst units more push up front.”"

In the end this should boost the Kansas City Chiefs pass rush.  The fans have wanted a move and the Kansas City Chiefs front office responded.