5 reasons that the Steelers signing Ingram was a wrong move

Steelers are paying for past production

To go along with the age argument here, Ingram will play this season at the age of 32. While plenty of pass rushers can still be effective role players even at that age, it means they likely won’t achieve the same highs they did in their prime. It would be shocking to see Ingram get even close to his career-high in sacks this year, and considering he is coming off a year where he recorded no sacks, it isn’t a guarantee that he even makes much of an impact.

To be fair, Ingram only played in seven games last season, so he didn’t have the full season to get after the quarterback like he usually did. That said, he was playing the majority of snaps when healthy, so the fact that he didn’t get to the quarterback once is a telling sign that his skills are in decline. The Steelers didn’t get an up-and-coming player here. They got one in the latter years of their carrier whose skills will continue to diminish.

No, sacks aren’t everything, and Ingram still has some pass-rushing moves despite his age but expecting a big sack output from him in 2021 is unwise. Again, he is a player in decline, and the Steelers are paying him the money they are because of his name value more so than his actual talent at this point. Ingram is better than what the team had at edge rusher, but at his price, this deal isn’t as great as some are making it out to be.